I have begun the process of putting together the 2009 SPICE Cup. It is expected to be between category 16-17.
I am happy to announce that the first official confirmed player for the 3rd annual SPICE Cup is 14 year old Filipino phenom GM Wesley So. His October 1 rating will be at around 2610 and he is the top ranked player from his country.
Here are just some of his latest accomplishments:
World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad August 16-24,2008
· Board 1 Gold Medal
World Junior Chess Championship August 2-16, 2008
· 9th Place (109 players)
2008 Japfa Chess Festival 2008 One-on-one with GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia April 16-21, 2008
· 1st Place
10th Dubai Open Chess Championship “Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Ak Maktoum Cup” April 5-15, 2008
· 1st Place
3rd Pichay Cup International Open December 2-8, 2007
· 3rd GM norm
· World’s 7th Youngest GM
· Youngest Filipino GM
World Junior Chess Championship October 2-17, 2007
· 2nd GM Norm
World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad August 4-12,2007
· Board 1 Gold Medal
15th Asian Cities Chess Championship March 1-9,2007
· Individual: Gold Medal for Performance Rating and Gold Medal for Percentage Score
Wesley will be representing the Philippines in the upcoming Olympiad in Dresden, Germany.
Hopefully we’ll see more of Wesley in big tournaments… How high was Magnus’s rating at 14?
In fairness, So is the youngest chess player in history to breach the 2600 mark making him one, if not the the youngest super GM in history. Bet let us be careful about this because we don’t want to nudge the ire of some chess fan about the rise of a player from the far east. It’s a sensitive comparison. The Carlsen-So or any prodigy that comes from the west.
if this boy is really that good, there is no reason why West shouldn’t embraced him the same way the world did to Anand. Wish him all the best.
Magnus rating :
Jul 2008 2775
Apr 2008 2765
Jan 2008 2733
Oct 2007 2714
Jul 2007 2710
Apr 2007 2693
Jan 2007 2690
Oct 2006 2698
Jul 2006 2675
Apr 2006 2646
Jan 2006 2625
Oct 2005 2570
Jul 2005 2528
Apr 2005 2548
Jan 2005 2553
Oct 2004 2581
Jul 2004 2567
Apr 2004 2552
Jan 2004 2484
Oct 2003 2450
Jul 2003 2385
Apr 2003 2356
Jan 2003 2279
Oct 2002 2250
Jul 2002 2214
Apr 2002 2163
Jan 2002 2127
Oct 2001 2072
Jul 2001 2084
Apr 2001 2064
How about inviting Fabiano Caruana? Do I recall correctly that he was once training at a club managed by Susan Polgar?
Ha ha! I’m the original poster, and I’m a fan of both So and Carlsen. East, west, doesn’t matter to me. Just happy to see these young players doing so well. They are rated twice as high as I am, despite the fact that I am twice as old 🙂
2600 is solid gm but let’s not get carried away and start using super gm. Even 2700 is hardly super gm these days.
I’m all for seeing this fine young man grow up to be a happy, well adjusted adult, regardless of whether or not he becomes a super GM, the next Magnus Carlsen, or what. He’s a got a good head on his shoulders and a pair of very supportive parents so he’s already more than halfway there.
Good on ya, Wesley!
I’m a super guy, but it doesn’t make me a super GM. A Super GM is a great chess player with a good attitude.
All the GM’s at the SPICE Cup are Super GM’s!
Susan Polgar is a Super-Super GM!
She is nicest of all!
thank you Susan for inviting Wesley!
the humblest little boy you’ll ever met. Quite shy too. Upon arriving at the airport after a successful campaign, he would run away from TV reporters for an interview!
‘Bet let us be careful about this because we don’t want to nudge the ire of some chess fan about the rise of a player from the far east.’
What extreme rubbish, crappy political and racial post. Go sleep, moron.
at last comment moderation has been enabled on this blog!. Thank you Susan! Those people are going too far. It’s a pity it just came to late! Thank you Susan!
Goodluck Wesley!
gooluck!!!
Thanks a lot to GM Susan Polgar for inviting GM So.