Argentinian chess prodigy Faustino Oro, known as the “Messi of Chess”, has taken a major step towards becoming the youngest grandmaster in history.
The 12-year-old won the Legends and Prodigies tournament in Madrid, earning his first grandmaster norm and crossing the 2500 Elo rating mark in the process. In doing so, he became the first player under the age of 12 ever to achieve a rating above 2500, setting multiple world records.
According to Chess.com, only India’s Gukesh Dommaraju and Ukraine’s Illya Nyzhnyk had earned a grandmaster norm at a younger age.
Oro is now just two steps away from breaking the record set by Indian-origin grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra, who achieved the title at 12 years and four months. Oro, who turns 12 on 14 October, has around five months to surpass that milestone. He is expected to compete in the FIDE World Cup in Goa, the European Club Cup in Greece, and a closed event in Argentina.
Writing in his Guardian chess column, Leonard Barden praised the youngster’s versatility: “Oro has a universal style. He can grind in marathon endings, crush opponents positionally, agree draws in under 10 moves, and score with imaginative attacks.”
Earlier this year, Oro faced five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand in an exhibition match in Tuscany titled the “Clash of Generations”, where the Indian legend won 2-0.
Oro first gained global attention last year when, at just 10 years old, he defeated world number one Magnus Carlsen in an online Bullet Brawl game, forcing the Norwegian to resign after a blunder on the 48th move.
