Wesley So: Rating History and Career

The career, turn by turn

1. 2003 · age 10

   Philippine National Championships U-10s^[1]

   First place

   First national junior title

2. 2005 · age 12

   Three IM norms^[1]

   Completed norms in four months

   Youngest Filipino to achieve IM title

3. Aug 2005 · age 11

   Nice International Open^[1]

   Scored 4/7

   International tournament debut

4. May 2006 · age 12

   37th Chess Olympiad in Turin^[1]

   Olympiad debut on second reserve

   First Olympiad appearance at age 12

5. Nov 2006 · age 13

   Bad Wiessee Open^[1]

   First GM norm with 7/9

   First norm toward grandmaster title

6. May 2007 · age 13

   Philippine National Junior Chess Championship^[1]

   National Junior Champion

   Won national junior crown

7. Oct 2007 · age 14

   World Junior Chess Championship in Yerevan^[1]

   Second GM norm with 7½/13

   Second GM norm at world junior level

8. Dec 2007 · age 14

   Pichay Cup International Open in Manila^[1]

   Third and final GM norm

   Youngest Filipino grandmaster at age 14

9. Apr 2008 · age 14

   Dubai Open^[1]

   Shared first place with 7/9

   First major open victory after GM title

10. Oct 2008 · age 15

    FIDE rating list^[1]

    Passed 2600

    Youngest player to pass 2600 breaking Carlsen's record

11. Jan 2009 · age 15

    Corus Group C in Wijk aan Zee^[1]

    Won tournament

    Major European title

12. Aug 2012 · age 18

    Webster University / Emigration^[1]

    Emigrated to the United States

    Studied at Webster University on chess scholarship

13. 2014 · age 21

    Federation transfer^[1]

    Transferred to the US

    Transferred national affiliation to the United States

14. Sep 2016 · age 22

    42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku^[1]

    Team and individual gold

    Won team gold and individual gold on board 3 for the US

15. Dec 2016 · age 23

    Grand Chess Tour 2016^[1]

    Won overall tour

    Won Sinquefield Cup, London Classic, and overall tour

16. Jan 2017 · age 23

    FIDE rating list^[1]

    Passed 2800

    The 11th player ever to pass 2800

17. Nov 2019 · age 26

    FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship^[1]

    Inaugural World Champion

    The first world champion in Fischer Random (Chess960)

18. Oct 2026 · age 33

    2026 U.S. Chess Championship^[1]

    Fourth U.S. Championship title

    Defeated Fabiano Caruana in rapid playoff

Coaches and trainers

1 person is named in published sources as a coach, trainer, second or mentor, in order. Players rarely list everyone who helped them, so this is what's on the record, not a complete count.

1. Vladimir Tukmakov^[1]Personal coach · From March 2016

Records, as they stood

• Youngest player to pass 2600 (since broken) (as of Oct 2008)^[1]

Where the career stands

• 2017World No. 2 at 2822 on the March 2017 list^[1]
• 2026Reigning four-time US Champion; three-time Philippine Champion^[1]
• 2016Team and individual gold for the US at the 42nd Olympiad^[1]

Checked on 2026-11-03. Ratings and rankings change every month.

Every grandmaster started with a first tournament

How long the road usually takes, from first moves to the title, is in our study of how long it takes to become a grandmaster. For a child starting out, here's how to get a FIDE rating in India.

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