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Meet Faustino Oro, the “Messi of Chess”
Faustino Oro, known as the “prodigy kid” of chess, was born in Argentina and at just 11 years old, he is writing one of the most remarkable chapters in the history of the game of chess. He currently resides in Spain with his parents, Romina and Alejandro, who decided to move in search of better opportunities and resources for his training, though he continues to represent Argentina in international competitions.
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The First Moves
Fausti’s connection to chess began almost by accident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Back then, his father taught him how to move the pieces to keep him entertained at home. “Otherwise, I’d have kept kicking the soccer ball around in the living room when I got bored during the pandemic,” he recalled in an interview with Clarín.
Initially, he found it boring, but when he started playing online, he discovered a passion that completely captured him. “At first, I didn’t like it, I was doing terribly, which makes sense, and my rank would drop on the virtual platforms. But I liked that my dad gave me a reward for every 100 points I climbed. And suddenly, I started going up 100 points here, 100 there, a bunch, and I was getting better. I loved the tactics, the game, the pieces, the board, those beautiful things about chess.”
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His natural talent soon exceeded all expectations. With just a few lessons under his belt, he was already solving problems designed for elite players. This exponential growth was watched in admiration by grandmasters who didn’t hesitate to call him a phenomenon never before seen in Argentina.
Meteoric Rise
Faustino has topped global chess rankings in the under-8, under-10, under-11, and under-12 categories by a wide margin. In 2023, he became the youngest FIDE Master in history, and just a few months later, at merely nine years old, he achieved an International Master norm after finishing runner-up in the ITT Copa Ciudad de Comodoro Rivadavia tournament.
In March 2024, he stunned the world by defeating two chess giants in online bullet matches: Magnus Carlsen, the world number one, and Hikaru Nakamura, the world number three. That same year, he obtained his second and third International Master norms, and at 10 years, 8 months, and 16 days old, became the youngest International Master in history, breaking records previously thought unattainable.
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In November 2024, he made history by being the youngest player to reach the final of the Argentine Absolute Championship, where he secured an impressive fourth place. Just a month later, he received the Silver Olympia Award, becoming the youngest athlete in Argentina’s history to achieve this.
Breaking World Records
2025 found him even stronger. Just recently, during the Legends and Prodigy tournament in Madrid, he achieved his first Grandmaster norm, breaking two records: he earned the highest Elo rating ever for an 11-year-old and became the youngest player to surpass 2500 FIDE Elo points. Only another prodigy, India’s Dommaraju Gukesh, had reached such heights at such a young age. Today, Gukesh is the reigning world champion, making the comparison unavoidable.
While the expectations are immense, those around him insist the main goal is to keep enjoying himself. To become the youngest Grandmaster in history, Faustino will need two more norms before March 7, 2026, when he will be 12 years, 4 months, and 24 days old.
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Faustino Oro is already a central figure in the world of youth chess. His story combines discipline, innate talent, and a passion that drives him to new challenges. Amidst the pressure of records and the dreams of a nation closely following him, Fausti maintains the naturalness of a child who, as he himself says, could be playing soccer but chose to move the pieces that have placed him at the pinnacle of global chess.
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