Wesley Barbasa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino-born American chess grandmaster, the inaugural and current World Fischer Random Chess Champion, and a two-time, and the current, U.S. Chess Champion (in 2017 and 2020). He is also a three-time Filipino Chess Champion. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was ranked number two in the world and had an Elo rating of 2822] making him the fifth-highest rated player in history.
A former chess prodigy, So became the youngest player to pass a 2600 Elo rating in October 2008, breaking the record previously held by Magnus Carlsen. This record has since been broken by John M. Burke. In early 2013, So passed 2700 and in January 2017 he became the 11th player to pass 2800 Elo.
So represented the Philippines until transferring to the United States in 2014. He won the 2015 Bilbao Chess Masters, the 2016 Grand Chess Tour title after claiming victory in the Sinquefield Cup and London Chess Classic, and the 2017 Tata Steel Masters. He represented the US on board 3 at the 42nd Chess Olympiad, winning team and individual gold.
So became the inaugural official Fischer Random world champion, on 2 November 2019, after defeating Carlsen 13½–2½ to win the FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship.
