Super Grandmaster Wesley So posted another milestone on Sunday, breaching the 2800 Elo rating following a victory over Michael Adams in the ongoing London Chess Classic.
Coupled with his first round victory over fellow USA team stalwart Hikaru Nakamura, the Philippine-born So hiked his live rating to 2803.2, the only 12th person to do so, and climbed to No. 4 in the world behind reigning champion Magnus Carlsen (2840), USA board 1 player Fabiano Caruana (2826.2) and Russian Vladimir Kramnik (2813).
The 23-year-old So, who represented the Philippines in the 2006 Turin (Italy), 2008 Dresden (Germany), 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia), and 2012 Istanbul (Turkey) Olympiads, dislodged French Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2797.9).
With So emerging as board gold medalist, USA ruled this year’s Chess Olympiad held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
If So sustains his sharp form in London, which serves as the concluding stop of the 2016 Grand Chess Tour, he’s a cinch to become the overall champion of the country-hopping circuit which started in Paris, then Leuven in Belgium and St. Louis, Missouri.
So topped the St. Louis leg for 13 points that raised his total to 30 and raised his earnings to $120,000, overtaking Carlsen (23 points), who did not take part in the USA leg.
So’s 2803.2 rating ranked as 11th all-time best, with Carlsen holding the highest ever (2889.2), followed by former world champion Garry Kasparov (2856.7). —Roy Luarca