Wesley So is out of the top 100; The Philippines is (still) rank no. 32

Believe it or not, as competition gets tougher and tougher here and abroad, GM Wesley So is experiencing a minor recession recently. For the first time in nearly a year, Wesley So who just turns 16 last month now finds himself out of the elite top 100 chess players in the world based on FIDE rankings. After reaching his highest peak of 2646 last July, Wesley shed just 6 points but that is enough to topple him out of the top 100, ranking him at no. 102 (active) in the world. To add some consolation, So is still the "youngest" player among the top 102 players and remains the top under 16 in the world today. So still holds in the top 20 junior players, at no.8 from his previous spot at no.7

And yes. The Philippines is no longer invisible and is back in the FIDE list. Despite improving in our individual rankings, the country is still placidly rank no 32 based on the average rating of the top ten players of 2525. Norway, who used to be the Philippines major rivals in the fight for the first to barge in the top 30 spot along other ex-soviet nations like Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Slovenia etc has finally entered the top 30 at no 29. Probably for the first time. Blame it on Magnus Calsen who is now officially the youngest player ever in history to break the 2800 mark.

Behind Wesley So, it is GM Joey Antonio, one of the best performer at the Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam, Team Blitz preliminary event with 8 wins and a draw is the Philippines second best with 2574, followed by GM Darwin Laylo (2552), GM elect Rogelio Barcenilla (2518), GM John Paul Gomez (2507), GM Eugenio Torre (2506), GM Mark Paragua (2497), GM Roland Salvador (2491), GM Joseph Sanchez (2487) and IM Julio Catalino Sadorra (2478), completing Pinoys top 10.


November 2009 (active players)

Top 100 Philippine players
Top countries
Top 100 Players (statistics)
Top 100 Women (statistics)
Top 20 Juniors (statistics)
Top 20 Girls (statistics)