Twelve-year-old Argentinian chess prodigy IM Faustino Oro has reached fifth place on the Chess.com blitz leaderboard, achieving a peak rating of 3295. He now prepares for the Aeroflot Open in Moscow, where he seeks his final grandmaster norm to potentially become the youngest GM ever. Oro's recent online successes include victories over top grandmasters like Hans Niemann and Vincent Keymer.
Faustino Oro, the 12-year-old dubbed the "Messi of Chess" by Argentinian media, has made headlines with his rapid ascent in online chess. In three consecutive Titled Tuesday events on Chess.com, he secured strong finishes: fifth place with 9/11 on February 17, defeating GM Hans Niemann; sixth with 9/11 on February 10, beating GM Vladislav Artemiev; and 15th with 8/11 on February 3, overcoming world number-four GM Vincent Keymer. These performances netted him 150 rating points, propelling him to a personal best of 3295 and fifth on the leaderboard, though he has since slipped to eighth at 3271—still ahead of GMs Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Oro credits his form to thriving in fast-paced formats. "I’ve been winning a lot of games lately," he told IM David Martinez in an interview. He prefers 3+0 blitz, using the clock strategically in tense middlegames. His over-the-board prowess shone at the FIDE World Blitz Championship 2025, where he scored 10.5/19 for a 2670 performance, including a win over GM Levon Aronian.
Now shifting to classical chess, Oro earned his first GM norm in September at the Legends and Prodigies tournament in Madrid, winning undefeated with 7.5/9. His second came months later in Argentina. The Aeroflot Open, running February 28 to March 6 in Moscow with 51 GMs and 58 IMs, offers the decisive norm. Success would eclipse GM Abhimanyu Mishra's record by days, adding to Oro's list of youngest-ever achievements in ratings and IM title.
"I feel good, and I am excited about that tournament," Oro said. "I have the chance to break the record, but I’m just going to play and try to enjoy it and go without pressure."
Commentator David Martinez praised Oro's potential: "The truly incredible thing about Faustino is that he always finds a way to surprise us... I'm convinced he'll do it again. He's a complete player and, moreover, a lethal competitor."
In January's Tata Steel Chess Challengers, Oro finished sixth with 7/13, defeating two GMs—a routine now for the prodigy. "I've been playing against a lot of grandmasters, so it feels normal now," he noted.
Oro met GM Magnus Carlsen in January, playing blitz and discussing chess. Carlsen, a former world champion, said: "He is a great player. He has a wonderful positional feeling for chess, which is quite rare for such young players. And he seems to really, really loves chess... Just enjoy it, and the pieces will fall as they may."
