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Post by cjeagle on Jan 24, 2014 13:30:03 GMT 8
After a loss in the previous game, Wes bounced back with a win in his Rd. 9 game against Dutch GM Loek Van Wely to up his points to 5. 2 more rounds left.
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Post by cjeagle on Jan 26, 2014 9:39:54 GMT 8
Another draw by Wes in Rd. 10 against Harikrishna for a respectable total of 5.5 points and tied for 4th place(half a point away from 2nd) in the standings. With only one round to go and with 3w 2l 5d, regardless of final round result, he is guaranteed to finish with a positive score overall in his first attempt at a category 20 tournament. He plays the 5th highest rated player in the world in the live rankings in Italian #1 Caruana in the final round.
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Post by cjeagle on Jan 27, 2014 0:47:37 GMT 8
Wesley settled for a fighting draw against World #5 ranked Caruana in the final round to finish in joint 4th place(3w 2l 6d and +1) in this super strong category 20 tournament, proving that he belongs among this super elite players in the chess world. Not bad for a 20 y/o student playing against full time professionals. He is now the 2nd highest ranked player(after former world champion Anand) in Asia in the live rating at 19th place after gaining 9 ELO points in this tournament.
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Post by cjeagle on Jan 27, 2014 1:31:07 GMT 8
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Post by speedy on Feb 3, 2014 18:20:17 GMT 8
Wesley settled for a fighting draw against World #5 ranked Caruana in the final round to finish in joint 4th place(3w 2l 6d and +1) in this super strong category 20 tournament, proving that he belongs among this super elite players in the chess world. Not bad for a 20 y/o student playing against full time professionals. He is now the 2nd highest ranked player(after former world champion Anand) in Asia in the live rating at 19th place after gaining 9 ELO points in this tournament. Right on cue cjeagle. This is a very strong tournament and can be considered like a grand slam event. Wesley used to play Category C. We must be really proud for him to finish 4th.
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Post by cjeagle on May 13, 2014 10:03:49 GMT 8
After 5 rounds of the Capablanca Memorial in Cuba:
Standings after 5 rounds
1. So, Wesley g PHI 2731 3½ 2. Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2768 3 3-4. Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2693 2½ 3-4. Bruzon Batista, Lazaro g CUB 2682 2½ 5. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2700 2 6. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2753 1½
Wesley has wins over Vallejo Pons and Almasi and draws with the rest of the field. 5 more games in the double round robin event, the strongest ever in terms of rating in the history of the tournament. All the other players were previous champions of this tournament.
With R5 win, GM Wesley So … Live rating of 2740.2, now ranks #19 in the Live Chess Ratings of the Top chess players in the world.
GM Susan Polgar, Wesley So’s coach at Webster U, tweeted “At the half at Capablanca Memorial, Wesley So is +2 & his live rating is 2740+. He’s about 3 pts away from top 15 in the world!”.
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Post by cjeagle on May 17, 2014 7:58:48 GMT 8
Wesley won another game in the 8th round, this time against top seed Leinier Dominguez to further his lead by a point. Standings # Name ELO Pts 1 So, Wesley 2738 5.5 2 Bruzón Batista, Lázaro 2678 4.5 3 Domínguez Pérez, Leinier 2768 4 4 Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2697 3.5 Almasi, Zoltan 2707 3.5 6 Ivanchuk, Vassily 2753 3 Wesley's Live has now reached his highest live rating at 2744.6, good enough for #15 in the World Live chess ratings list. www.2700chess.com/ Acc. to his coach Susan Polgar, now that they have reached top 15, the next goal is top 10.
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Post by cheeze on May 17, 2014 18:07:36 GMT 8
Wow. This kid is the real deal. He deserves a courtesy call at the Palace.
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Post by cjeagle on May 18, 2014 4:48:08 GMT 8
"Wesley So has shown that he can now be regarded as one of a small number of younger players to offer, in a few number of years, a realistic challenge to play in level to challenge Magnus Carlsen. His win against Leitier Dominguez, number 10 in the recent list, shows that he is potentially a world-beater... Wesley So now has to consolidate his probable victory in his tournament." (IM Colin Crouch in his notes)
High praise indeed but unfortunately he is also a full time student at Webster. Nevertheless it is amazing he can achieve this results while finishing his academic requirements at school as well.
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Post by cjeagle on May 18, 2014 6:11:31 GMT 8
Wesley had a draw today in the 9th round against GM Vassily Ivanchuk and retained his place on top of the standings, and is a full point ahead of second place Bruzon with only 1 round to go.
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Post by cjeagle on May 18, 2014 6:16:33 GMT 8
Coach Susan Polgar tweeted this on 2700chess:
"Wesley is not stopping at 15. We will work hard to get to the top 10 in the world."
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Post by cjeagle on May 19, 2014 5:09:45 GMT 8
Wesley So is the official champ of the Category 19 Capablanca Memorial Cup in Cuba, the strongest tournament in the Americas after drawing his final match against Almasi. He is a full point ahead of the 2nd place finisher, so he didn't really need to push for a win.
congrats Wesley.
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Post by nashval on Jun 8, 2014 22:42:03 GMT 8
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Post by cjeagle on Jun 9, 2014 1:38:44 GMT 8
Yeah I read that yesterday. I have been predicting this for some time on this thread and the NCFP refused to do anything to make Wesley feel welcome. This is the result. He had decided to join the USCF. Both Barbosa and Paragua have also expressed dissatisfaction with the NCFP and might not play for them in the Chess Olympiad. Wesley's letter to the NCFP President Pichay: Dear Cong Pichay, I would like to share my thoughts about changing federations. I hope you have the time to read my letter. I appreciate your understanding in advance. First of all, I would like to thank you for your past support. I am proud to be Filipino, and I will always be a Filipino at heart. I will never forget where I came from. However, circumstances have changed. My family has permanently moved to Canada. I now live and attend school full time in the United States (at Webster University). I plan to reside permanently here. This is where I will have the opportunity to improve my chess, and make a decent living as a professional player. I want to be able to play in top level tournaments ... to get to the next level. I have filed the paperwork to switch federation to the US last year. I respectfully ask that you grant me this opportunity and consent my transfer. If you choose not to approve my transfer request, I have no way of paying the 50,000 euros fees to the NCFP. Therefore, I will have no choice but to sit out another year to fulfill my full two year waiting period so no transfer fees are needed. This will not benefit the NCFP at all. However, it will severely slow down my progress by not being able to play in official FIDE events such as the World Cup, World Blitz and Rapid Championships, etc. I will be forced to miss the next World Championship cycle. Because of the 2-year waiting period rule of FIDE, I am not able to compete in the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Dubai next week. I will also not be able to compete in the upcoming Olympiad in Norway. This is not an easy decision. But it is the best decision for me to have a chance to be a top 10 player in the world, and perhaps one day fight for the World Championship crown. I hope you will support my decision and allow me to make this change immediately so I can have a chance to chase my dream without losing more valuable time at this very important age. Thank you! Respectfully yours, Wesley So susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2014/06/wesley-so-will-switch-federation-to-us.html#.U5OPdhtpfwg.twitter
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Post by cheeze on Jun 9, 2014 11:12:06 GMT 8
Yeah I read that yesterday. I have been predicting this for some time on this thread and the NCFP refused to do anything to make Wesley feel welcome. This is the result. He had decided to join the USCF. Both Barbosa and Paragua have also expressed dissatisfaction with the NCFP and might not play for them in the Chess Olympiad. Wesley's letter to the NCFP President Pichay: Dear Cong Pichay, I would like to share my thoughts about changing federations. I hope you have the time to read my letter. I appreciate your understanding in advance. First of all, I would like to thank you for your past support. I am proud to be Filipino, and I will always be a Filipino at heart. I will never forget where I came from. However, circumstances have changed. My family has permanently moved to Canada. I now live and attend school full time in the United States (at Webster University). I plan to reside permanently here. This is where I will have the opportunity to improve my chess, and make a decent living as a professional player. I want to be able to play in top level tournaments ... to get to the next level. I have filed the paperwork to switch federation to the US last year. I respectfully ask that you grant me this opportunity and consent my transfer. If you choose not to approve my transfer request, I have no way of paying the 50,000 euros fees to the NCFP. Therefore, I will have no choice but to sit out another year to fulfill my full two year waiting period so no transfer fees are needed. This will not benefit the NCFP at all. However, it will severely slow down my progress by not being able to play in official FIDE events such as the World Cup, World Blitz and Rapid Championships, etc. I will be forced to miss the next World Championship cycle. No freaking way... maybe MVP can sponsor this kid? He's the best player in Asia, so there's gotta be someone who's wiling to sponsor him in the country. Is this really financial issue?
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