Wesley So slips to 90 in top 100 FIDE chess ratings

In the latest World Chess Federation (FIDE) ratings released Thursday, Filipino grandmaster (GM) Wesley So slipped to 90th among the best chess players in the world, from 89th in the previous July rankings, but it was the result mostly of strong gains other top grandmasters made. Sergey Karjakin, So’s current foe in Round 2 of the World Chess Cup 2011 in Russia, also went down a notch from 4th to 5th in the top 100 list.

Magnus Carlsen is still world’s No. 1. The biggest gainer in the top 100 is Russia’s Alexander Morozevich, who rose from 48th to 17th. China’s Li Chao was also a strong gainer, rising from 77th to 35th. Mark Paragua, the other Filipino who entered the World Cup this year is ranked 596th in the world. He became GM in 2005. Paragua is 6th in the Philippines. In the roster of world’s top 20 Juniors, So is 6th, just behind Ding Liren, whom So eliminated in the World Cup’s Round 1. So is the Philippines’ current No. 1 and world’s Under-18 No. 2. He became GM in 2008. So has 219 wins, 242 draws, and lost 52 as per the September 1 FIDE rankings. He won 127 times playing white and lost 92 times playing black. He had more games ending in draws when he played black (141) versus the times he played white (106). — Earl Victor Rosero/RSJ, GMA News