Wesley So
A Filipino-born American grandmaster who reached No. 2 in the world in 2017. So beat Magnus Carlsen in the final to become the first World Fischer Random champion in 2019, and has won three U.S. titles.
A former prodigy, he played his first Olympiad for the Philippines at 12 and became the youngest player ever to pass 2600, a record since broken. He moved to the U.S. federation in 2014 and won team and individual gold at the 2016 Olympiad.
2026 has been one of his strongest years: he won his first American Cup, beating Levon Aronian in the final, and then won the Sinquefield Cup for the second year running, beating Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in a playoff.
Career highlights
- First World Fischer Random Champion (2019)
- Three-time Sinquefield Cup winner, including 2025 and 2026
- Three-time U.S. Champion
- 2016 Olympiad team and individual gold for the U.S.
- Peak rating 2822, world No. 2 in 2017
Titles
- Sinquefield Cup: 2016, 2025, 2026
- Grand Chess Tour: 2016, 2021
- U.S. Chess Championship: 2017, 2020, 2021
- Tata Steel Chess Tournament: 2017
- London Chess Classic: 2016
- Reykjavík Open: 2013
From the winners lists on our event pages.
Wesley So in The Chess Herald
- Li, 16, Takes Women's Title as So Stumbles, Caruana Forces Playoff
- So Draws Niemann in Under an Hour, One Round From a Fourth Title
- So Holds Caruana to a Draw and Keeps His Full-Point Lead
- So Beats Woodward in a Pawn Ending, Leads Caruana by a Point
- Total Chess Rating Puts Carlsen at 2830, 51 Points Clear
Show all 33 articles
- So Takes Sole Lead on 5/7 as Liang Falls in 27 Moves
- Weekly Recap: The U.S. Championship Tightens in Saint Louis While Youth Records and Upsets Pile Up
- Caruana and Liang Join a Four-Way Lead After Round 6
- Woodward Beats Caruana as Eight of 12 Games Are Decisive
- Caruana Joins So in the Lead as Liang Falls to Xiong
- Caruana Wins Titled Tuesday on a U.S. Championship Rest Day
- Woodward and Shankland Win as So and Liang Stay Level at 2.5
- So and Liang Lead Open at 2/2, Bottom Seeds Top the Women
- Caruana Chases a Fifth Straight US Title, and Reshevsky's Record
- Chess960 Explained: Why Freestyle Shuffles the Pieces
- Artemiev Beats Nakamura in the Final Round of Titled Tuesday
- Titled Field Heads to Monastir as the Sahel Festival Eyes Sousse 2027
- Weekly Recap: Turlov Takes Over FIDE as Uzbekistan Wins Gold in Samarkand
- Caruana Heads a 12-Player U.S. Championship Field in Saint Louis
- Sindarov Within Two Points of Caruana After Samarkand
- Wesley So Starts 7/7 and Wins Titled Tuesday Outright
- Uzbekistan Retakes the Lead as So Stuns Sindarov
- Total Chess Fills Its 24-Player Field With Six More Signings
- Uzbekistan Pulls Two Matches Clear as Praggnanandhaa Delivers a Mating Net
- Germany Stuns Top-Seeded USA as Uzbekistan Routs Hungary
- Eight Teams Still Perfect After Four Rounds in Samarkand
- Argentina's 28th Seed Shocks Ukraine at Samarkand
- Erigaisi Falls, but India's Bench Holds at Samarkand
- Weekly Recap: Bengaluru's Standings Keep Flipping While FIDE Builds Out Its Calendar
- Deekshitha's Record Gain Shows How Fast the FIDE Rating List Can Move
- Caruana's Italian Job: An Old Opening Finds New Teeth in the Grand Chess Tour Finals
- The 'Curse of the Draw' Follows the Grand Chess Tour to St. Louis
- Sindarov's Round-Seven Win Echoes His Candidates Surge as Tan Survives a Near-Collapse
FIDE profile · Wikipedia
Profile last reviewed September 29, 2026. Ratings update monthly from FIDE.