GM WESLEY SO

#6. So Young, So Talented
The Stars Top 10 Stories
Sports Year Ender by Dante Navarro
The Philippine Star

Although the country produced a pair of grandmasters in the year about to end, teenage GM Wesley So remained RP chess' biggest draw with his impressive performances, including a victory in the Dubai Open in April.

So, who became the world's youngest GM at 14 in December last year and seventh in history, also outclassed Indonesian GM Susanto Megaranto in a head-to-head duel, 4-2, in May and topped the Battle of the Grandmasters which he highlighted with victories over GMs Joey Antonio and Bong Villamayor and a draw with GM Eugene Torre to snare P200,000.

Three months later, he copped the gold medal on Board One in the World Under-16 Chess Olympiad in Mersin, Turkey for the second straight year, powering the Filipinos to a strong third place finish.

He was unbeaten in eight games while drawing two to finish with a solid nine-point effort.

These feats proved enough to overshadow the achievements of Gonzales and Gomez, who became the country's ninth and 10th GMs, respectively.