Tsinoy Caviteño Wesley So, 23, is the newest chess champion in the United States.
So, who now lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota, won the US chess championship over opponent Alexander Onischuk, a 41-year-old Ukrainian-born grandmaster who lives in Texas, and won the US championship in 2006.
He became the new US champ on April 11 at the tournament held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Until then, grandmaster So was ranked world’s number 2 player after he won in the prestigious Tata Steel Chess tournament in the Netherlands early this year.
He is now a full-time chess professional. So first went to the US on a Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri chess scholarship to begin full-time studies there in 2012.
In November 2014, So officially changed his federation to the US from the Philippines. His parents are William and Eleanor So, both accountants.