Wesley So tops American Cup for first time, bags over P5 million

MANILA, Philippines – Finally, the American Cup crown goes to Wesley So.

The Filipino-born Super Grandmaster drew with Levon Aronian in their second classical game on Wednesday, March 11 (Thursday, March 12, Manila time) to rule the 2026 American Cup after four failed attempts, including runner-up finishes to Hikaru Nakamura in 2023 and Aronian himself in 2024, at the Saint Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, Missouri.

The 32-year-old So, a three-time United States champion, bested Aronian in their first classical encounter on Tuesday on the way to bagging $90,000 (nearly P5.4 million), counting the $15,000 bonus he got for topping the winner’s bracket of the elite eight-man, double elimination event.

En route to the grand final, So beat Ray Robson and Sam Sevian, and rebounded from a must-win situation to stun top seed Fabiano Caruana, who lost to Aronian in the elimination final.

“It feels wonderful. It feels great,” said So in the post-game interview with Chess.com. “I mean it doesn’t happen often that I win a big tournament.”

Handling black with precision in their Guioco Piano Opening, So even held a favorable position when Aronian conceded the draw that gave the proud son of Bacoor, Cavite, his second title this year. So ruled the 2026 Tata Steel Chess India Blitz in January.

With his solid performance in St. Louis, So landed No. 7 in the world live rating with an Elo 2754. – Rappler.com