Norway, 2. Nov. 2019 — American Wesley So beat Norwegian Magnus Carlsen today in the first world championship in Fischer random chess held at the Henie Onstad Art Center in the municipality of Bærum (outside Oslo) from October 27 to November 2, 2019. The final score was 13.5 for So vs. 2.5 for Carlsen. This is the first world title So has won as a chess player so far. This is also said to be USA´s second gold medal in the world chess championship since Robert James “Bobby” Fischer Fischer won in 1972. So reportedly received a cash prize of 1.2 million Norwegian kroner.
It is my husband who has followed the chess games on the the local TV station, NRK, but he wasn´t able to watch the final game between Carlsen and So on TV today.
I am not yet a fan of So, but has been a fan of Carlsen for more than five years now. Carlsen´s intensity in playing chess spurred my interest to watch the coverages of international chess tournaments on local TV, especially if Magnus was one of the players. After watching the 28 year old Carlsen for a number of years now, I thought he would be unbeatable. This was until I heard via the TV coverages of the games that hubby has been watching in the past days that a 26-year old guy named Wesley So was beating Carlsen in the games, without any error move at all.
I wasn´t interested in finding out more about So, until I heard him being interviewed on the local TV station NRK. The TV reporters mentioned So is an American, but when I heard him speak English, I just knew he was Filipino once or of Filipino origin. My husband asked me how I knew and I answered: So sounds like he has Filipino roots.
I thus searched about So on the Web and found this from Norwegian news provider NRK:
https://www.nrk.no/sport/den-bitre-familiekonflikten-som-sendte-so-til-verdenstoppen-1.14761831.
According to this report, So was born in the Philippines, but migrated to the USA and changed his citizenship from Filipino to American in 2014. Apparently, his biological parents didn´t support his dreams to become a chess grandmaster, since they wanted him to pursue a career in finance, which they thought was more stable. Luckily for him and the world of chess, he found support from foster parents, Filipino-American Lotis Key and her husband who are both based in Minnesota and St. Louis, USA. Key was an actress in the Philippines when she was younger.
Why did So change his citizenship? The news report from NRK here says it was because he didn´t get enough support from his biological family, the local authorities and local chess federations for his chess career advancement while he was in the Philippines. The USA gave him that.
Seeing on TV how So played chess against Carlsen, I concluded he must be a chess genius, like Carlsen. The reigning world champion in classic chess, Carlsen, has now found a match who could beat him in the future, if he´d continue being easily upset by losing in some games. That mindset is understandable for someone who has always been winning. Perhaps it´s time Carlsen trains to have a more positive response to losing some games. After all, these losing episodes can teach him lessons only he could understand about the way his chess genius works.
An NRK reporter interviewed So, a few minutes after he beat Carlsen today. I wrote down the following words So said:
- Fischer random chess is my favorite type of chess. I´m happy to win the first world championship in Fischer random chess.
- Magnus had some bad days in this tournament. I´ve been playing relatively well.
- To me, chess is mainly art.
- To be a very good (chess) player, you have to be a very good athlete.
- Chess is 90% sport. You need to be focused.
- I love playing chess here in Norway. Here in Norway, they respect players very much. That´s what makes players come back.
NRK also interviewed Key, whom they called ”the mother of Wesley So.”
Here are Key´s words, after So won the game:
”Tusen takk. It´s totally unbelievable, totally amazing. He (Wesley) never thought he´d get to the finals. It´s like a miracle (he´d win). He was a little edgy coming here…”
She was also asked to comment on how So treats the media, and she said the following:
He respects the media. This is good because the media is important in building up (interest for) the game of chess. We would never push away a fan. It´s (a show of) respect for people who come to see your game.
Asked about what So likes to do, Key said in the interview with NRK:
He wants to see his cats and pets at home. He likes to put on his pajamas and stays in his room. We don´t drink and we don´t party. We just relax with the family.
In the awarding ceremony in the host municipality of Bærum today, the emcee introduced So as both from the Philippines and USA.
Carlsen was awarded the silver medal while Russian Jan Nepomnjasjtsjij won the bronze medal in this first Fischer random chess world championship games.
After the awarding ceremony, a reporter asked Carlsen about his thoughts of what happened. He answered briefly, with the following main messages:
- He wanted to say congratulations to Wesley.
- It didn´t go well as he expected in the last days of the game.
I´d say Carlsen might have had a hand in inspiring So to strive to become who he is as a chess player today. Ten years ago Carlsen reportedly invited So, then a Filipino, to a chess training camp. He must have been invited because Carlsen thought he had a promising potential.
Here´s my message to Norway´s chess champion, Magnus: Our dear Magnus, we, your Norway-based fans are sad, too. You lost to Wesley today, but please move on. You are a chess genius who has held the world title in classic chess since 2013. You can win some more world titles in the next five years with the right attitude. You are blessed with a family who fully supports you because they care about you, and thus, you can do anything that you believe in.
To Wesley, I have some words, for you, too: I hope I could interview you someday, for myself and my hubby, a true-blue chess enthusiast, and other Filipino-Norwegian chess fans. Today, let me congratulate you for a job well done. You deserve to win this first world championship in Fischer random chess. Please believe you can win some more titles, both for yourself and the country you represent — the USA (and the Philippines, in a way). Keep up the winning attitude! I´ll try to follow your games from this day forward.
