'Fischer random' champ Wesley So and Oro chess

FILIPINO chess whiz Wesley So, who left the Philippines for the US to live his dream, has a deep connection with the Cagayan de Oro chess community.

So recently conquered Magnus Carlsen of Norway for the inaugural crown of the World Fischer Random Chess Championship at Henie Onstad Center in Norway, Cagayan de Oro.

Chess fans rejoiced right away as if the now US citizen is but a celebrated member of the family. And why not.

Wesley's father, William So, used to work at a hardware owned by a relative in Cagayan de Oro and studied for a while at Ateneo de Cagayan, now Xavier University.

"That was the time when I'm still a cunning bachelor and the prodigal son or the black ship in the family. Napunta ako sa Cagayan de Oro kung saan `mi kamag-anak kami na may ari ng isang hardware (We went to Cagayan de Oro where we were related to the owner of a hardware store)," William said while his son was still playing in an age group tourney back in Manila.

During his formative years, young Wesley So fell twice at the hands of veteran foes from Cagayan de Oro named Jasper "Jake the Snake" Gonzales and Basilio Pandan.

"It happened during an inter-province tourney. Bata pa kaayo si Wesley (Wesley was so young)," said Gonzales who is now employed at the City Hall.

For his part, Pandan proudly posted his memorable game with So in his Facebook account.

They met during the 2004 Inter-Cities and Municipalities Chess Team Championship on December 1-7 in Tagaytay City, or more than a decade ago.

Handling White, Pandan opened with the unusual g3 and with So's d5 reply.

The irregular opening tussle gradually transformed into a double fianchetto set-up of the King's Indian.

As experience prevailed, Pandan netted the match after 44 moves.

"That was long ago. But my most treasured jewel especially that Wesley So just crowned as the world's inaugural Fischer Random chess champion," Pandan told SunStar Cagayan de Oro.

The Filipino-American super grand master, who now represents the U.S. flag, bested the classical world champion Carlsen in lopsided manner, 13.5-2.5.

After the development, fans all over the world were in unison predicting So as the logical threat for Carlsen's reign in the near future.

The late American genius Bobby Fischer, a former world champion himself, invented the Fischer Random.

Its difference from standard chess is that the pieces in the back rank are randomly shuffled instead of having set positions, thereby sparkling a lot of over-the-board tactics and creativity.

"I hope that something positive will happen to Philippine chess after Wesley's victory. Otherwise, kawawa na talaga ang chess sa Pinas (chess in the Philippines would be pitiful)," said Davao City lawyer Jong Guevarra Jr., a regular competitor in big chess tournaments in Cagayan de Oro.

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