Chessmaster Wesley So continues to shine amid distractions

MANILA, Philippines – This summer has been the brightest in the life of 20-year-old Wesley So. In two months, So has won the Capablanca Memorial in Havana, Cuba and the Association of Chess Professional tournament in Bergamo, Italy, making him 12^th in the world when the official rankings are out by the end of the month.

His Elo rating is now at 2755, the highest achieved by a Philippine grandmaster since games began to be rated by FIDE, the French acronym of the World Chess Federation in 1970. 

But Susan Polgar, his coach at Webster University, urged So’s fans at Twitter to take it one goal at a time. “Stay strong, stay focused, continue to work hard, on and off the board. That is the magic road,” said the former world women’s champion. 

So, in his Twitter account, said the next goal would be to maintain 2750. “And then break into the Top 10, then Top 5,” added Polgar.

Polgar knows whereof she speaks. The eldest of three chess-playing sisters, Susan, then 18, led the Hungarian women’s team’s dethronement of longtime champion Soviet Union in the 1988 Olympiad and retained the title in the 1990 Olympiad after a tough struggle.

But fate refuses to fully smile on So.

The Philippines cannot tap So for next month Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway. So notified the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) that he wants to represent the United States Chess Federation to advance his career. 

NCFP Executive Director Jayson Gonzales told Rappler that the federation received from FIDE a request from So to transfer to the US Chess Federation last week. Gonzales said there is no decision whether to grant So his release.

“Things may change the Olympiad, but as of now there is no decision to grant So’s release,” said Gonzales. He added that Prospero Pichay, NCFP president, has accepted the situation calmly unlike last June when So’s wish to change federation came out in Polgar’s blog. 

Gonzales, pointing out FIDE regulations that if the US federation would like to get So even if he has stayed for less than two years in the US, the NCFP should receive a compensation fee which amounts to 50,000 euros.

Chess experts said this is a way to discourage big chess playing nations from recruiting talented players from another country, which has invested a lot of money.

For the first time since he joined the Philippine Olympiad teams in 2006, So will not play for his country but will coach the US team in Tromso. 

This marks the end of a chapter in Philippine chess as its brightest talent will no longer suit up for the country. Those heady nights of enjoyment as chess fans stayed till midnight to see the national squad soar to as high as the No.2 table in the 2012 Chess Olympiad in Istanbul after beating Iceland, slipping past Bulgaria, and routing arch enemy England may take years to be duplicated.

For the Filipino chess fans following this at the tournament site, Wesley So’s page and other chess portals, a dream came true. But after China smashed the Philippines 3-1 and Vietnam drew 2-2, the tired Filipinos buckled at the hands of Romania, 1-3. The Philippines tied for 21^st place.

Not only did So shine in Istanbul but second board Oliver Barbosa, whose big swindle of former world junior champion Kiril Georgiev of Bulgaria, fired up the team’s bid.

Will Filipino chess fans follow the national team’s Olympiad exploits as fervently as when Wesley So sent it to new heights? In two weeks, this murky position will clarify itself. – Rappler.com