Wesley So

Wesley So is a three-time U.S. Champion (2017, 2020, 2021) and two-time Grand Chess Tour Champion (2016, 2021). Originally from the Philippines, So transferred federations to the U.S. in 2014. He has represented the United States in multiple Olympiads since, winning both team and individual gold in the Baku Olympiad (2016). So also earned team silver medals in the Batumi (2018) and Budapest (2024) Olympiads. He will play for the U.S. team in the Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan this fall.

In 2019 So defeated Magnus Carlsen in the inaugural FIDE Fischer Random World Championship in the final with a staggering score of 13.5 to Carlsen’s 2.5, becoming the first official World Champion of Fischer Random.

So has been in excellent form of late, winning the 2025 and 2026 Sinquefield Cups (he and Fabiano Caruana are the only players to win this event three times) and the 2026 American Cup and finishing second at Norway Chess 2026, defeating Magnus Carlsen in their individual game.

Currently the 5th highest rated player in the world on the FIDE rating list, So has previously been as high as number two, with a peak rating of 2822. This makes him the fifth-highest rated player in history.