CEBU’S chess community is proud of Wesley So’s feat in the World Fischer Random Chess Championship at the Henie Onstad Art Center in Norway on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019.
So, who’s ranked No. 14 in the world, stunned the chess world after pulling off a huge upset over world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, 13.5- 2.5, to become the event’s inaugural champion.
“I’m very proud of Grand Master Wesley So. What he did was awesome. Although he’s now representing the US, his blood is still Filipino,” Fide arbiter Felix Poloyapoy Jr. said when sought for his reaction.
So represented the Philippines when he started his international career but transferred federations in 2014 after a disagreement with the National Chess Federation of the Philippines. He has been representing the US since 2014.
“It’s amazing, spectacular! You can say all the superlatives on this win,” said Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association (Cepca) secretary Jun Olis in a separate interview.
Olis said the result was unexpected but somehow the performance of So in the semifinals showed glimpses of what he will bring to the table against world No. 1 Carlsen in the championship.
Olis compared the performance of So to that of the legendary Bobby Fischer.
“He played like Fischer. He totally dominated and humiliated Carlsen. He was an underdog but you can tell he’s on his best when you watch him play and beat a Russian player in the semis,” he said.
Both Poloyapoy and Olis agreed that even though So is representing the US, the young chess wizard is proud of being a Filipino.
“All the Filipinos are happy on his victory. This will be an inspiration to all the young Filipino chess players here who are aspiring to become great in the sport of chess,” said Poloyapoy, an arbiter and at the same time pairing arbiter in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games on Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.
“He’s proud of his roots. There was one event when he wore a Barong Tagalog during the awarding ceremony,” Poloyapoy said of So. “Wesley (So) is a once-in-a-lifetime player. Maybe we can’t find a player like him in our lifetime. What he does in chess will really inspire the young players.”
The Cavite-born So drew the first game before winning the second in Day 1. He followed it up with two more wins the next day to build a seemingly insurmountable lead over Carlsen.
The matches consisted of slow rapid encounters with victories worth 3.0 points and fast rapid games worth 2.0 points. So destroyed Carlsen in the slow rapid contests, 10.5-1.5, and also topped the fast rapid duels, 3.0-1.0. (RSC)