By: Cecil Rosner
Posted: 02/7/2015 3:00 AM
ONE of the most meteoric climbs in the chess rankings in years is causing some people to second-guess how they let a world-class grandmaster slip from their grasp.
Wesley So was once the pride of the Philippines. Born in 1993, he learned chess at the age of six and began showing prodigy-like strength almost immediately. He won the Philippine Under 10 championships in 2003.
The victories kept coming. Soon he was the country’s junior champion, and he began competing internationally as a pre-teen. By the time he was 14, he was the youngest grandmaster in the country’s history.
Chess is an important part of the cultural scene in the Philippines, and it is a popular game with Filipinos abroad. That is reflected right here in Winnipeg, where many Filipino players rank among the strongest in the city.
But in 2012, So moved to the U.S. to begin studying at Webster University in St. Louis. Susan Polgar acted as his coach, and his play began improving dramatically. He has moved from being in the top 100 two years ago to No. 7 in the world in the latest rankings.
That makes So the highest ranked U.S. player. He has officially switched federations and now represents the U.S. internationally. So has said he needs to live in the U.S. to be better positioned for international success.
That has led to recriminations in his home country. Antonio Trillanes, a Filipino senator, has filed a Senate resolution in which he is calling for an investigation into the mishandling by the country’s sports officials of So’s transfer of federations.
“So has a big potential of becoming a world champion,” Trillanes is quoted in the Philippine website rappler.com. “Unfortunately, the Philippines lost this hope of having its first Filipino world champion when GM So officially transferred his chess affiliation to the USA last October.”
But So himself has said there are no serious training programs in the Philippines, and not enough strong tournaments in Asia. He recently left Webster University and has turned professional. His results in 2015 already show that he is on the path to becoming a serious contender for a future world championship challenge.
Despite his status as a U.S. representative, there is little doubt that Filipinos around the world will continue to cheer for So, and consider him one of their own.
Source: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com
well that country is hopeless because of corruption!! way behind in asia and being bullied by china right on its own backyard!! people like pichay, gonzales and other corrupt psc leaders are the reason wesley left the philippines!! shame even here people like gonzales harass wesley by commenting sarcastic comments
Hi Susan
Want you to put me into this training programm
thank you
This Jayson Gonzales of NCFP is an idiot. He is licking Pichay’s behind.
The best Filipino player of Chinese descent under American management.