So breaches 2750, climbs to No. 14

FILIPINO super Grandmaster Wesley So beat Canadian Fide Master Alex Yam Wednesday night to keep his share of the lead and achieve two more milestones in the 9th Edmonton Chess Festival in Alberta, Canada.

So, who handled black, raised his total to 4.5 points after five rounds, the same output as fellow super GM Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the 10-player, round-robin tournament.

More importantly, the win raised So’s live ratings to a personal best 2750.5, surpassing his goal of  2750 for the year.

So also climbed to 14th in the world, his highest ever, displacing super GM Anish Giri, who dropped to 15th at 2750.

Ivanchuk, seeded second to So with his Elo of 2738, beat Canadian Vladimir Pechenkin.

The 20-year-old So, named as coach of Team USA to the coming Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway, dreams of barging into the world’s top 10 and eventually challenge for the world title.

So was also in the lineup submitted by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines to the Olympiad Secretariat.

It’s now up to So on which federation he will choose, but according to NCFP executive director GM Jayson Gonzales he can play for the country and still coach the US. Roy Luarca