January 7, 2015
By BRIAN JERAULD
He arrives in the U.S. as a promising recruit from the Philippines, and in two years makes the jump from the top 100 to No. 10 in the world. He becomes an instant collegiate star, a freshman phenom who leads St. Louis’ powerhouse Webster University program to back-to-back national titles — and then plays the nation’s heartstrings by announcing that his promising future will be played under the red, white and blue for the burgeoning U.S. Chess Federation.
Indeed, Grandmaster Wesley So was the hottest name to come out of the U.S. Capital of Chess in 2014, a World University Champion on a two-time national champion team, voted last year’s Best College Athlete even before he blasted off into the next headline-grabbing stratosphere.
In October, So used everything but luck to take down the Millionaire Open in Las Vegas, winning its never-seen-before $100,000 top prize and taking his first big gulp of that delicious green wine. His follow-up was an undefeated run through a “rookie” season in the U.S. Chess League, an outstanding 8/9 performance against the nation’s best players to lead the Saint Louis Arch Bishops to their first championship in December.
And now, with national titles seemingly nothing more than swag collected any time he participates in an event, Wesley So has officially made the leap. Just before the turn of the new year, the 21-year-old announced that he was going pro in 2015 — then he returned to Vegas to celebrate his new business suit, stomping on the North American Open to bag an easy $10,000 in another undefeated effort.
The announcement came rife with all the controversy that a budding mind sport could want, exhibiting all the classic storylines of any athlete’s early declaration. Cue the standard well-wishing from his former coach, Susan Polgar at Webster, not speaking on his abrupt departure (just as the major collegiate tournament season hit full swing) and instead giving quotes mixed with the affirmation of his talents and the veiled concerns for his future.
Even Mama So played a role in the fray, less guarded than Polgar and publicly expressing concern on her son's decision. Since chess doesn’t have any of the professional restrictions like traditional sports under the NCAA (that $100,000 check in Vegas last October did not affect his amateur status), So’s decision is less about “going pro” and more about simply dropping out of school. He left behind two-and-a-half years worth of a finance degree by not returning for Webster’s winter semester, and has since vacated the city completely, now working professionally out of Minnesota.
“No matter how good he is as a chess professional, it cannot replace education and a university degree,” said Leny So in an interview with Chessdom.com. “All of us encouraged him to stay in school. He has so much to learn. Unfortunately, there were poor advice given to Wesley, which is not to our liking. I have a negative feeling as a mother that this is a very huge mistake on Wesley. It hurts me terribly.”
Eeesh. If there was any worse vote of confidence behind such a huge decision, it came directly from So’s new stars-and-stripes teammate, currently standing next to him in the world rankings: Hikaru Nakamura, the World No. 9 who has spent years as the lone American ranked among the world’s top 10 — up until So’s sudden arrival.