Chess grandmaster Wesley So FACEBOOK PHOTO
Super Grandmaster Wesley So performed so well in 2016, he handily emerged Player of the Year.
The Philippine-born So, now representing the United States, earned the nod of online voters in a poll conducted by chessbase.com, besting reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway.
So, 23, boosted his stock following victories in the Sinquefield Cup in August and London Chess Classic in December en route to the 2016 Grand Chess Tour overall title.
In-between, So wound up board 3 gold medalist and powered the US to the championship of the 42nd Chess Olympiad held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
As a result of his checkered board exploits, So raised his Elo rating to 2808, only the 12th player to breach the 2800 barrier, and jumped to fourth in the world rankings behind Carlsen (2840), fellow US stalwart Fabiano Caruana (2827) and Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik (2811).
China’s Hou Yifan took Female Player of the Year honors.
In a Facebook post, So thanked all those who voted for him and said he’s looking forward to an even better 2017. —ROY LUARCA