In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Barbossa and the surname or paternal family name is So.
Wesley So
So in 2023
Full name
Wesley Barbossa So
Country
Philippines (until 2014)
United States (since 2014)
Born
(1993-10-09) October 9, 1993 (age 30) Bacoor, Cavite, Philippines
Title
Grandmaster (2008)
FIDE rating
2757 (April 2024)
Peak rating
2822 (February 2017)
Ranking
No. 8 (April 2024)
Peak ranking
No. 2 (March 2017)
Medal record
Men's chess
Representing Philippines
Summer Universiade
2013 Kazan
Men's individual
Asian Games
2010 Guangzhou
Men's team standard
Southeast Asian Games
2011 Jakarta/Palembang
Men's Blitz
2011 Jakarta/Palembang
Men's Standard
Wesley Barbossa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster and three-time U.S. Chess Champion (in 2017, 2020, and 2021). He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was ranked number two in the world and had an Elo rating of 2822,[1] making him the fifth-highest-rated player in history.
In 2019, So said his favorite form of chess is chess960 (also known as Fischer random chess).[2] Later that year, So became the inaugural World Fischer Random Chess Champion after defeating Magnus Carlsen to win the FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship.[3]
A former chess prodigy, So became the youngest player to pass a 2600 Elo rating in October 2008, breaking the record previously held by Carlsen.[4] This record has since been broken by Wei Yi and John M. Burke.[5] In early 2013, So passed 2700 and in January 2017 he became the 11th player to pass 2800 Elo.
So represented the Philippines until transferring to the United States in 2014. He won the 2015 Bilbao Chess Masters, the 2016 Grand Chess Tour title after claiming victory in the Sinquefield Cup and London Chess Classic, the 2017 Tata Steel Masters and the 2021 Grand Chess Tour. He represented the US on board 3 at the 42nd Chess Olympiad, winning team and individual gold.
^"Top 100 Players March 2017". FIDE. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
^Cite error: The named reference auto was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Tisdall (JonathanTisdall), Jonathan (3 November 2019). "Wesley So Becomes First World Fischer Random Chess Champion". Chess.com. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
^von Keitz, Michael (12 February 2013). "Carlsen's Conquests – at 22 he has broken all records". ChessBase News. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
^Silver, Albert (31 August 2015). "September 2015 Ratings: Burke youngest 2600 ever". ChessBase News. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
Wesley Barbossa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster and three-time U.S. Chess Champion (in 2017, 2020, and 2021). He...
undefeated. The field consisted of world top ten players Hikaru Nakamura and WesleySo; top 100 players Ray Robson, Sam Shankland, Gata Kamsky, and Alexander...
three-man race between Fabiano Caruana, WesleySo and Vladimir Kramnik. By mid-October 2017, Caruana and So had a near-decisive lead, but this was resolved...
blitz games. On the February 2015 FIDE rating list, Nakamura fell behind WesleySo, the first time since January 2013 that Nakamura had not been the top...
The participants were Fabiano Caruana, WesleySo, Leinier Domínguez, and Hikaru Nakamura. The event was won by So, beating Caruana on tiebreaks in the final...
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and WesleySo and 1 loss against Ian Nepomniachtchi. Firouzja finished with 36½ points, ahead of second place WesleySo on 30 points and...
rapid match against WesleySo. He defeated So in game one, and after three games the score was tied at 1½–1½. In the last game, So defeated Praggnanandhaa...
Championship 2019, brought additional prominence to the variant. It was won by WesleySo. In 2022, Hikaru Nakamura became the new champion. Before the game, a...
were four directly seeded players: defending Fischer random champion WesleySo, classical chess champion and Fischer random championship runner-up Magnus...
played the Bongcloud against GM Vladimir Dobrov in the 3+1 section and GM WesleySo in the 1+1 section of the 2019 Speed Chess Championship, winning both...
John Wesley (/ˈwɛsli/; 28 June [O.S. 17 June] 1703 – 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement...
playoff with WesleySo for a place at the 2018 London Chess Classic scheduled on the same day (Caruana would qualify to London after beating So in a playoff...
town of Şəmkir, Azerbaijan. Anand scored an overall +3 score, defeating WesleySo, Michael Adams, and Shakriyar Mamedyarov. He finished the tournament undefeated...
Alireza Firouzja, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana, WesleySo, and Richárd Rapport. The tour will consist of five tournaments, two classicals...
Tournament 2026. Jan 1 – Alireza Firouzja confirms his position above WesleySo in the January rating list and qualifies for the Candidates Tournament...
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in Bærum, Norway. The winner of the final was WesleySo, defeating Magnus Carlsen 13.5–2.5, to become the first FIDE world champion...
in Armageddon, So Knocks Out Nakamura". Chess.com. Retrieved 6 January 2024. West (NM_Vanessa), Vanessa (7 November 2022). "WesleySo Becomes First-Ever...
ninth player to compete after 8th ranked Vladimir Kramnik and 10th ranked WesleySo declined to participate. Jon Ludvig Hammer was selected to participate...
On Quick Draw With So: 'There Was Little Incentive'". Chess.com. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-13. "Hikaru Nakamura vs WesleySo (2022)". Chessgames...
in history to achieve a rating above 2600, breaking the record held by WesleySo. This record has since been broken by John M. Burke. In June, Wei won...
Kabigting took professional chess player WesleySo into their family. Key serves as the adoptive mother and manager of So. Weng Weng's brother said that Key...
Xinghua, Jiangsu, 1st with 9/11 Chess World Cup 2011: knocked out by WesleySo April 2012: Chinese Individual Championship in Xinghua, Jiangsu, 1st with...
an upcoming championship in 2024. The inaugural champion in 2019 was WesleySo. The current champion in 2022 is Hikaru Nakamura. The concept of Fischerandom...
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