The Fischer Random, also called Chess960, tournament is a variant of classical chess invented by the late world champion Bobby Fischer. #WesleySo #MagnusCarlsen #FischerRandom #chess

MANILA — Former Filipino and now American grandmaster Wesley So scored a shocking sweep of world No. 1 GM Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the finals of the inaugural FIDE Fisher Random World Championship at the Henie Onstad Art Center in Høvikodden, a picturesque headland in the Bærum municipality.

So became the official first winner of the tournament by outpointing Carlsen 13.5 against 2.5 in the third and last day of the 3-day championship series that started on 31 October.

So also won the second day and the two drew in the first day of the final.

“I’m very happy! It’s my favorite type of chess, and it hasn’t been popular until the last couple of years. I usually win tournaments the first time and never again. Magnus had a bad couple of days if it was regular chess he would probably have beaten me easily,” the winner told NRK, the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company. “To me, mainly chess is art – that’s why I like Fischer Random a lot, there is a lot of creativity.”

Carlsen praised So: “I just want to congratulate Wesley So, he played a lot better than me. I played OK on day one but was a bit unlucky result-wise. After that I am just ashamed of the way I played and I wish I could have another chance to do it.”

So’s remarkable win came despite Carlsen’s homecourt advantage making the American an instant star among Norwegians aside from taking home the grand prize of $125,000.

The Fischer Random, also called Chess960, tournament is a variant of classical chess invented by the late world champion Bobby Fischer. The rules of the game are the same as standard chess but with each player’s back rank randomly shuffled.

Under the championship format, each of the first and second day matches consists of four “slow rapid” games in which players receiving 45 minutes for the 40 first moves and 15 minutes for the rest of the game with no increment. Each win is worth 3 points, with 1½ points given to each player in case of a draw.

In the third and final day, there are four fast rapid games of 15 minutes plus 2-second increments, four blitz games of 3 minutes plus 2-second increments and a tiebreaker of 5/4 minutes with no increment. Each win in the rapid games is worth 2 points and 1 point for the blitz games.