Wesley So now 3rd in world chess ranking

MANILA, Philippines – Wesley So is now the third strongest chess player in the world, according to the February rankings of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). Social media has been abuzz with his victory at the 2017 Tata Steel above world champion Magnus Carlsen.

Yes, So still has a Philippine passport but FIDE rules allow him to play for the US Chess Federation as he has been based there for the last 4 years. 

Chess-loving Filipinos have brushed aside the relatively rocky path So took to winning his first title of the royal game’s 3 important events. Tata forms the triangle of chess grand slams along with Aeroflot in Moscow, and Dortmund in Germany. 

In the last round, So’s foe, Ian Nepomniatchi, castled queenside and allowed So’s queen to capture a free pawn on the a2 square. Computer evaluation of the position swung from slightly plus for the Russian to minus and gave So the break he needed to win.

These are the first 9 moves: d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. Nd2 c54. dxc5 e6 5. e4 h6 6. Bh4 dxe47. Qe2 Qa5 8. O-O-O?

Chess is full of opening surprises that backfired even in this computer age.  In one game in the tournament, Pentala Harikrishna lost a pawn on the 9th move against Richard Rapport but the Indian managed to draw. 

There was little uproar over Nepomniatchi’s blunder. Only rejoicing as at last, a Philippine-born grandmaster not surnamed Torre has won a major tournament. Torre himself never did well in this tournament, then named Wijk aan Zee. After all, a win is a win.

2nd soon?

So is third in the world and could be second as Fabiano Caruana is not doing well in Gibraltar. On live ratings, that device used to track a player’s rating while a tournament is going on, So is number two in the world. Does that mean he may be a world champion? 

Chess history has lots of those players ranked second, third, fourth in the world who never became world champion or even challenged for the world title. For while players have computer databases and chess engines to evaluate critical lines, preparation is an art.

Coaching leans on intuition, the gut feel that sometimes works. This is what So’s first and current coach, Vladimir Tukmakov, brings to the table. Along with the famous old Russian preparation: two to 3 weeks in fresh, forest air; sports activities; nutritous diet; study and analysis of lines. if we glean from the ChessBase article, Tukmakov and So have only worked through Skype.

Asian zonal tournament

Philippine chess is agog over So’s triumph. Despite having the US flag near his table, So wears the Barong Tagalog in awarding ceremonies. He always says he will remain a Filipino to placate fans who continue to castigate the National Chess Federation of the Philippines for letting him play for the US.

But there is no news or interest over the Asian Zone 3.3 tournament to be held February 5 in Tagaytay. Is it because no Filipino, including Eugene Torre, can break the dominance of the Vietnamese in this tournament? Is it because our first woman Grandmaster, Janelle Mae Frayna, will have rough sailing here?

The top two winners in the zonal tournament advance to the World Cup, a huge knockout event which is a qualifier to the Candidates Tournament. This tournament selects the challenge to Carlsen. 

Will the zonal tournament turn into regret of Filipinos who will whine, “If we only have Wesley, maybe he can help our players, etc?” Aside from Torre and Frayna, who will stand up to the challenge? Our top player, Julio Catalino Sadorra, US-based but who still plays for us, has not listed himself yet. But a chess hero from the 1990s, Rogelio Barcenilla Jr, traveled from Arizona to compete in Tagaytay.

Thus, chess fans may ignore the zonal and bask in the glow of So’s victory. They will wait for Fabiano Caruana to stumble and hand over number two to So. This means So will be around 15 points short of toppling Carlsen as world number one. Unless a miracle happens in Tagaytay, that may well be the case. – Rappler.com