GMWesley So

Wesley So grew up in Cavite in the Philippines, where neighbourhood chess offered an inexpensive way to compete. He studied grandmaster games clipped from newspapers and challenged local players with a makeshift board. Winning the Philippine under-10 title in 2003 took him to his first international youth championship. He became a grandmaster at fourteen. A scholarship brought him to Webster University in 2012. He initially hoped that a degree would lead to a conventional job in the United States. After meeting Lotis Key and Bambi Kabigting, who later adopted him, he gained the practical and emotional support to try full-time professional chess.

So began representing the United States in 2014. He won the Bilbao Masters in 2015. Victories at the Sinquefield Cup and London Chess Classic carried him to the 2016 Grand Chess Tour title. At that year's Olympiad, he won both team and individual gold. He added the Tata Steel Masters and his first U.S. Championship in 2017.

In 2019, So defeated Magnus Carlsen to become the first official World Fischer Random Champion. That format has remained a particular enthusiasm because it reduces the role of memorized opening preparation. He won the Grand Chess Tour again in 2021. Further U.S. titles brought his total to four by 2026, alongside another American Cup victory and repeated successes at the Sinquefield Cup.