RP’s Wesley So now ranked 89th overall in the world
04/01/2009 04:04 PM
MANILA, Philippines – Young grandmaster Wesley So continues his meteoric rise to the top of the chess world.
So boosted his personal ratings to a record ELO 2641 – the highest-ever achieved by a Filipino chess player – and climbed to 89th overall in the world based on the newest FIDE quarterly ratings released on April 1.
The 15-year-old high school student of St. Francis-Bacoor shares the spot with GMs Georg Meier of Germany and Ilia Smirin of Israel in the new FIDE ratings, which places GM Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria as World No. 1 anew.
So also moved up to 7th among the world’s top junior players.
Only GMs Magnus Carlsen (ELO 2770) of Norway, Sergey Karjakin (ELO 2721) of Ukraine, Wang Hao (ELO 2696) of China, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (ELO 2684) of France, Fabiano Caruana (ELO 2649) of Italy and Li Chao (ELO 2643) of China have better ratings than So.
The Filipino prodigy is also currently ranked 11th overall in Asia and No. 1 in the under-16 category.
So’s previous high was ELO 2531 in the October 2007 ratings by FIDE. He slipped to ELO 2526 in the January 2009 rating but moved up anew following his successful campaign in the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Nteherlands and the Aeroflot Open in Moscow, Russia.
So’s remarkable climb in the ratings chart started in January 2005 with an ELO of 2165. The rating increased to ELO 2216 in January 2006, ELO 2451 in January 2007 and finally, ELO 2526 in January 2008.
Topalov emerged as the world’s highest-rated player with an ELO of 2812.
GM Viswanathan Anand of India is second with an ELO of 2783 followed by Magnus Carlsen (2770), GM Vladimir Kramnik of Russia (2759), GM Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan (2756), GM Levon Aronian of Armenia (2754), GM Dmity Jakovenko of Russia (2753), GM Alexander Morozevich of Russia (2751), GM Peter Leko of Hungary (2751) and Alexander Grischuk of Russia (2748).
In the Philippines, Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre remained in second place with an ELO of 2561.
The 57-year-old Torre, who rediscovered his old brilliance in winning the third President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Cup late last year, is enjoying his highest rating in more than 10 years. He is listed No. 349 among active players in the world.
Dresden Olympiad veteran GM John Paul Gomez is third with an ELO of 2538, followed by GM Mark Paragua in fourth with an ELO of 2529 and GM Rogelio Antonio Jr., in fifth with an ELO of 2518.
In solo sixth place is GM Darwin Laylo with an ELO of 2509.
Europe-based GM Joseph Sanchez, who became the country’s 11th GM early this year, is now in seventh place with an ELO of 2483.
Completing the top 12 players in the list are IM Richard Bitoon, eighth with ELO of 2479; IM Rolando Nolte, ninth with ELO of 2479; GM Buenaventura “Bong” Vilamayor, 10th with ELO of 2474, GM Jayson Gonzales, 11th with ELO of 2465; and IM Julio Catalino Sadorra, 12th with ELO of 2451.
Gomez, who was voted as “Athlete of the Year” by the UAAP only recently, surpassed the ELO 2500-mark for the first time in his career. He jumped from ELO 2469 in the previous list to ELO 2538.
Paragua also improved from 2521 to 2529, while Antonio dropped from 2529 to 2518.
Source: GMA News
I’m very impressed with So.
Dem Filipinos can play chess!
Yes, very good. Once we take over, all people will be forced to eat our fetal rage through balut.
Duck fetus’ for all.
Another asset of playing chess is for us older types. A study has shown that playing chess can reduce the onset of Alzheimer disease.
I am very impressed by GM So’s progress.
There is one item in the article which is a minor point but a continual irritant. Dr. Arpad Elo (1903-1992, Hungary-United States) invented the rating systems used today. To use the ALL CAPS name for the rating system makes it sound like an abbreviation for Electric Light Orchestra. I am a stickler for accuracy in points like these.
Has a 2500’s player ever gained 100 FIDE rating points in such short a time?
Impressive!
he is not human
The power of Balut!
Believe that!