Wesley So the youngest GrandMaster in the World

At the age of 14, he is fromt he Philippines the newest and the youngest Chess GrandMaster. The latest grandmaster, who has earned his final norm at the tender age of 14 years, one month and 28 days, is Wesley So from the Philippines (where two months earlier another GM, Darwin Laylo, emerged). Wesley is currently the youngest GM in the world, and the seventh youngest in the history of the game.

He had just completed his final grandmaster norm at the recently concluded international tournament in Manila (2nd Pichay Open). He was born on October 9, 1993 and completed his GM requirements on December 7, 2007. Thus when FIDE convenes next year; he would become the seventh youngest chess player to achieve the grandmaster title in chess history. Oh yeah, he is not a Chinese or a Russian, nor an Indian – he is a Filipino.

Wesley during the junior active chess tournaments in 2003 in Manila. He was then a young lad who would sacrifice a queen or any other pieces in his arsenal to get a winning attack. He was well ahead of his foes, indeed at nine years old he won the National Kiddies Tournament for 14-Under, and at 13 he won the National Juniors (20 Under) and the Philippine National Open (Open to all).