OSLO, Norway — Filipino-American grandmaster Wesley So capped a standout run at Norway Chess 2026 with a runner-up finish, defeating world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and French star Alireza Firouzja in the final round of one of the sport’s most elite tournaments.
So, who was born in Cavite, Philippines, and later represented the United States, finished one point behind India’s R Praggnanandhaa in the six-player Super Grandmaster double round-robin event. His performance earned him $37,823, or about 2.34 million Philippine pesos.
A former child prodigy, So rose through the ranks of Philippine chess before switching federations to the United States in 2014, a move that helped elevate his career on the global stage. He has since become one of the world’s most consistent elite players, highlighted by his victory in the inaugural Fischer Random World Championship in 2019 and multiple titles on the Grand Chess Tour.
In Oslo, So rebounded from an opening-round loss to Praggnanandhaa with victories over reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Germany’s Vincent Keymer. He then delivered dominant 3-0 wins over Firouzja and Carlsen before scoring a revenge victory against Praggnanandhaa in their second encounter.
Despite a setback against Gukesh later in the tournament, So closed strongly with wins over Keymer and Carlsen to secure second place.
Praggnanandhaa, who suffered his only loss to So in Round 6, responded with victories over Firouzja, Carlsen, Gukesh and Keymer to clinch the title.
So’s win over Carlsen marked his second victory over the Norwegian star on home soil, following his triumph in Oslo during the 2019 Fischer Random World Championship.
The runner-up finish pushed So to No. 7 in the live world rankings, with an Elo rating of 2764.6.
