Wesley So of the Philippines, world's youngest chess grandmaster

While it was relatively late in knowing that the young Wesley So is the world's youngest chess grandmaster, I am still elated at this rather belated but much welcome news. Not that I've been far away from the PC but my mind was preoccupied by the reminiscence of that age in Philippine chess when it was lorded over by the venerable Florencio Campomanes who took under his wing Eugenio Torre of Ilonggo parentage and who honed his mastery over the 64-squared battlefield with daily jousts at La Paz district.

Now comes this prodigy, 14-year old Wesley So. A visit at wikipedia.com revealed that he was born on October 9, 1993 to parents who are both accountants. He achieved the GM title at the age of 14 years, 1 month and 28 days. This puts him as the 7th youngest person to achieve the Grandmaster title in the history of chess. Before becoming a Grandmaster, So had become the youngest Filipino International Master at the age of 12 years and 10 months. The previous youngest Filipino IM had been GM Mark Paragua at 14 years and 8 months.

The late International Master, Rodolfo Tan Cardoso was the first to saw the potential atakador in Wesley. Cardoso said, "The young lad... would sacrifice a queen or any other pieces in his arsenal to get a winning attack." Cardoso likewise noted that unlike other prodigies who were placed under formal tutelage befitting chess prodigies, So relied only on his native gifts, guile, continuous tournament exposure and a little help from Fritz chess software.

I have two Fritz chess tutorials with me, chances are I will not be able to reach Wesley So's skill level but having those Fritz software gives me at least bragging rights, or so I thought.
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"Consciousness: That annoying time between naps."