FM Faustino Oro
Bio
IM-elect Faustino "Fausti" Oro is an Argentinian chess prodigy and the youngest player ever to achieve a 2300 FIDE rating. By November 2023, he had a 2377 rating and already one norm toward an international master title. He continued to build his resume after defeating GM Magnus Carlsen in a bullet game in March 2024 and, in June 2024, Oro became the youngest international master in history at the age of just 10.
Oro has been nicknamed "The Messi of Chess" in Argentina, after that country's association football star Lionel Messi, and is a ChessKid.com ambassador.
2021–22
Oro learned chess largely by himself, with his father Alejandro creating a Chess.com account for him in 2020. Oro and ChessKid began collaborating in June 2021 when he streamed in Spanish with WIM Ivette Garcia, streams which continued monthly throughout the year. (ChessKid.com also has a profile of Fausti.)
Oro did not receive a classical Elo rating from FIDE until October. Still only seven years old at that time, he entered the list with a rating of 1922. He broke the 2000 rating marker in May 2022 and hasn't looked back.
2023
Oro first made Chess.com news in June 2023 when he became the youngest player in history to receive a 2300 FIDE rating. In September, he earned his first IM norm at the Comodoro Rivadavia International Chess Festival, where he tied for second place with 6.5 points out of a possible nine.
One of Oro's opponents in the tournament, GM Diego Flores, said afterward, "It makes me happy to see him play, how he uses every resource in every position, and that he also continues an upward streak in his career." Flores and Oro had drawn their game in the tournament.
In December, Oro played and won an online blitz match against GothamChess, IM Levy Rozman, by a 11.5–10.5 score. Levy said afterward, "I’m happy today’s match was close. I was very worried that after it was 2-0 that it would be 20-0."
2024
A new year in 2024 could not stop the Fausti train. Regularly participating in Bullet Brawl, he scored a win against GM Hikaru Nakamura in January.
But the well-deserved attention reached a fever pitch in March 2024, when Oro exceeded a Chess.com bullet rating of 2950 and scored his first victory against Carlsen.
The 10-year-old "Golden Boy" Faustino Oro beat Magnus Carlsen yesterday in a bullet game!
— Chess.com (@chesscom) March 25, 2024
Messi of chess 🏆🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/eVDGqGjxFl
You can watch Oro's live performance below. After a quick celebration, he refocuses on his next game, always looking for that next win.
And here is the full game itself:
As of April 2024, the record for youngest grandmaster belongs to GM Abhimanyu Mishra at 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days. The date to circle for Oro's chances at breaking the record is March 10, 2026. Certainly his career to date suggests that type of lofty projection is worth considering.
