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Who is Faustino Oro, the wonderkid called the Messi of chess?

National Herald | May 11, 2026 11:40 PM CST

Faustino Oro, the 12-year-old from Buenos Aires nicknamed the ‘Messi of chess,’ turned heads once more when he became the second youngest grandmaster as he secured his final GM norm at the Sardinia World Chess Festival 2026 in Italy on Sunday, 10 May.

At 12 years, 6 months and 26 days old to be precise, Faustino officially earned the grandmaster title, which places him only behind American prodigy Abhimanyu Mishra, who holds the all-time record after becoming a GM at 12 years, 4 months and 25 days in 2021.

The Argentine now joins an exclusive club of only seven players who have become GMs before turning 13 — a list also featuring Sergey Karjakin, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, Javokhir Sindarov, and two Indians, R. Praggnanandhaa and reigning world champion D. Gukesh.

It was back in March that Faustino looked set to become the youngest grandmaster ever during the Aeroflot Open in Moscow. However, Russian teenager Aleksey Grebnev spoiled the fairytale by defeating the wonderkid in the final round, delaying the historic moment by just a few months. He had already made history before this latest milestone, becoming the first under-12 player ever to cross the 2500 rating mark.

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Faustino scored his first GM norm at the Legends and prodigies Round Robin Tournament in Madrid last year, scoring an undefeated 7.5/9 points and also crossing the 2500 rating barrier. His second GM norm came at the Magistral Szmetan-Giardelli Masters last December, while the third and final GM norm came in Sardinia where he bagged it with a round to spare, scoring 6/8 points.

Oro’s popularity exploded after he defeated five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen in an online game as a 10-year-old back in 2024. The world no. 1 Norwegian, arguably the greatest of all time in the sport himself, has repeatedly praised the youngster’s talent.

“He’s (Oro) a great player. He has a wonderful positional feeling for chess, which is quite rare among such young players,’’ Carlsen said in an interview. “He seems to really love chess, seeing as he plays a ton online and plays every tournament that he can. He’s on an incredible path.’’