Wesley So - Pinoy Grandmaster at 14, wins Dubai Open
Written by Ms. Confuse on Monday, April 21, 2008
A new pride of the Philippines is a 14-year-old chess wizard named Wesley So.
So earned his grandmaster norm at a tender age of 12 and at 14, he is makinh waves in international chess competitions. Wesley So, is actually the youngest grandmaster in the world today at 14.
Last week, So ran away with the title in the $45,000 Dubai Open Chess Championships, also known as The Sheikh Rashed Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The young wizard won over 131 players from 25 countries, including 29 grandmasters and women grandmasters, 21 international masters/WIMs and 22 FMs/WFMs.
Reports from Dubai stated that So finished with 7.0 points on six wins, one loss and two draws after nine games play. The Filipino GM actually was in tie with GMs Merab Gagubashvili of Georgia, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran and Li Chao of China, but emerged the champion by virtue of a superior tie break score, the reports said.
So received the prestigious Sheikh Rashed Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup and won a fourth ($4,500) of the combined prize of $18,000. The young Filipino chess wizard gained a total of 15 points after a superb total performance rating of 2708. So also set a record as the youngest Dubai Chess open champion, at the age of 14 in the 10th anniversary of the event.
So's fellow GM Joey Antonio only has kind words for the young chess whiz. "I am prove. He is a hard worker and a very kind boy. Wala siya yabang." So's next stop will be in Indonesia where he will play a series of matches against top Indon GM Susanto Megranto before returning home to the Philippine Grandmasters before end of the month.
So agreed to a draw with Chinese GM li Chao after only 18 moves of a Sicilian Defense in Board 1, while Gagunashvili also halved the point with GM Valeriy Neverov of Ukraine on Board 2.
So's stint was supported by National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr., NCFP secretary-general Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino Jr., Filway Marketing Inc. chief executive/president Hector Tagaysay and businessman Reginald Tee.
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1 comments: Responses to “ Wesley So - Pinoy Grandmaster at 14, wins Dubai Open ”
By Anonymous on April 21, 2008 at 11:06 PM
the kid is also the philippines' current no.1, ahead of GMs Antonio, Paragua and Torre. If only the filipinos can regularly compete abroad, they'd certainly make waves and possibly reach the top 100.