"I was really on my last breath. I was literally seeing 10 pawns for Black..." — Wesley So on the US Championship

Wesley So

World's No. 6

“I didn’t sleep well at all. I think I been lying on bed and only slept for two or three hours.

I was not in a mood to play in the playoff at all. But kudos to Sam, he had a very tough tournament. I was shocked with the way he played a really good game. But I also played very badly.

I think — I’m talking about this year specifically — there’s so many Blunders in this event. If you look at every round there’s a huge Blunder. Like players hanging a Rook, hanging a piece.

Even me, I made so many Blunders in this tournament. I’m very happy, I won, but my games were so bad. I don’t think I deserve to win this year, but I’ll take it of course.

I was losing against Ray also and against Jeffery. It’s shocking that there’s so many Blunders. I think you can explain the fact that players are so tired. It’s the end of the year, it’s been a long season.

Also, in the playoff, I think Fabi and I were so tired. If you look at both games, I think it was very poor quality for both of us. So many Blunders and so many Mistakes. In the end, I was really on my last breath. I was literally seeing 10 pawns for Black.

My mind was all over the place. I think Fabi was extremely tired, too. So, I’m happy to pull this through.”