So reaches ELO 2656 rating, now ranked No. 76 in the world

The Philippines’ top player GM Wesley So continued to raise the level of excellence when he reached ELO 2656 - an RP all-time high - based on the January 1 ratings released by the World Chess Federation (Fide). Buoyed by his strong showing in the recent World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia where he eliminated former world championship finalists Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and Gata Kamsky of the United States, So earned 16 points to increase his ELO 2640 from the November 2009 list.

The ELO 2656 - the highest-ever rating achieved by a Filipino player in history - was enough to propel the high school student of St. Francis College to No. 76 overall in the world in a tie with GM Boris Avrukh of Israel. The 16-year-old So also moved up to No. 6 among the world's top junior players, two notches higher than his previous position in the September quarterly rating of Fide. The Filipino chess whiz trails only GM Magnus Carlssen (ELO 2810) of Norway, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (ELO 2730) of France, Sergey Karjakin (ELO 2720) of Russia, Fabiano Caruana (ELO 2675) of Italy and Ian Nepomniactchi (ELO 2658 ) of Russia among the world's elite youngsters. The multi-awarded campaigner from Bacoor, Cavite also moved up to No. 8 overall in Asia and retained No. 1 position in the world in the under-16 category. More importantly, So's dramatic rise also enabled the Philippines to move up to 29th place among chess-playing nation in the world - up by five notches from 34th in the previous quarterly list. "I'm very happy for my achievements in the previous year. I hope 2010 will be just as good to me," said So, who is scheduled to leave for Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands on Jan. 13 to compete in Group B in the Corus (formerly Hoogovens) tournament. Last year, So's rating was only ELO 2627 in January 2009. His ELO 2627 surpassed the previous high of ELO 2621 established by GM Mark Paragua in April 2006. The rating steadily increased to ELO 2641 in April 2009 and ELO 2646 in July 2009 but dipped slightly to 2644 in July and then 2640 in September before picking up anew during the World Cup. Meanwhile, So's World Cup teammates, GMs Rogelio Antonio, Jr. and Darwin Laylo, kept second and third places, respectively, in the country's list of top players. Antonio, who lost to Kamsky in the first round of the World Cup, has ELO 2572 - two points down from his all-time best of ELO 2574 in the November rating list. He is listed No. 34 in Asia and No. 311 in the world. Laylo, another first-round loser in the World cup, increased his rating to ELO 2556 from 2552, good for No. 3 in the country, No. 41 in Asia and No. 394 in the world. Also making it RP’s the Top 10 list are United States-based GM Rogelio Barcenilla, Jr., fourth with ELO 2518; GM John Paul Gomez, fifth (ELO 2507), GM Eugene Torre, sixth (ELO 2506); GM Mark Paragua, seventh (ELO 2497); GM Joseph Sanchez, eighth (ELO 2490), IM Roland Salvador, ninth (ELO 2472); and IM Julio Catalino Sadorra, 10th (ELO 2466). In 11th to 15th places are GM Ronald Dableo (ELO 2464); IM Richard Bitoon (ELO 2458); IM Oliver Barbosa (ELO 2452); GM Jayson Gonzales (ELO 2441); and GM Buenaventura "Bong" Villamayor (ELO 2438). - GMANews.TV