Grandmaster (GM) Wesley So earned the highest rating among Filipino players in the January 2009 Rating List of the FIDE (World Chess Federation), a local sports Website reported.

According to BilliardPhilippines.com, the 15-year-old So now has an ELO rating of 2627, breaking Mark Paragua’s 2621 rating three years ago.

Asia’s First GM Eugene Torre maintained his second ranking among Filipinos with an ELO rating of 2560.

Rounding up to the country’s top 10 are No.3 GM John Paul Gomez (2539), No. 4 GM Mark Paragua (2537), No.5 GM Rogelio Antonio Jr., (2514), No.6 GM Darwin Laylo (2504), No.7 IM Rolando Nolte (2488), No.8 IM Roland Salvador (2476), No.9 IM Richard Bitoon (2473) and No.10 GM Buenaventura Villamayor (2471).

Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov is at the top ranking with an ELO of 2796, dislodging GM Viswanathan Anand of India with 2791. GM Judith Polgar of Hungrary remained World’s No.1 in the women’s side with 2693 while GM Magnus Carlsen of Norway took the junior side with 2776. Yifan Hou of China is girl’s World No.1 with 2571.

“Lalo ko pa pong pagbubutihan ang paglalaro ko ng chess para magbigay ng karangalan sa bayan,” said So.

So recently scored a gold medal in the 1st Asian Club in the United Arab Emirates, where the Philippines settled for fourth place.