A 12-year-old Argentine chess prodigy, Faustino Oro, is set to compete in the Aeroflot Open in Moscow, where a victory could make him the youngest grandmaster in history. Nicknamed the 'Messi of Chess,' Oro needs just one more norm to achieve the title, surpassing the current record held by Abhimanyu Mishra. The tournament, starting in late February 2026, features a strong field of grandmasters.
Faustino Oro, a 12-year-old from Argentina known as the 'Messi of Chess' for his rapid rise, is one norm away from becoming a grandmaster. He will attempt to claim the title at the Aeroflot Open, held at Moscow's Carlton Hotel, beginning four days after February 24, 2026, and concluding on March 5, 2026. Winning the event would make Oro the youngest ever, eclipsing Abhimanyu Mishra's record from 2021, when Mishra was 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days old. Mishra had previously broken Sergey Karjakin's 19-year-old mark by over two months.
Oro faces a challenging field, including grandmasters Ian Nepomniachtchi, Andrey Esipenko, Daniil Dubov, Alexander Grischuk, and Raunak Sadhwani. Fourteen players are rated above 2600, with 34 seeded higher than Oro. The tournament's format is demanding, with players competing in two classical games on three of its six days. This represents Oro's final opportunity to break the record before turning 13.
Despite the stakes, Oro remains focused on enjoyment and improvement. In an interview with The Indian Express shortly after his 12th birthday, he said, “There’s no pressure about the record. I try to play my best chess and enjoy chess. For me, it’s a sport. I am not focussing on the record of being the youngest grandmaster in history. I will try to do that, obviously. But I am more focused on playing my style of chess and trying to improve a bit more every day. And well, if I improve a bit more each day, the grandmaster title will appear.”
Oro describes his style as positional with tactical elements, avoiding quick wins. “I don’t try to checkmate my opponent in 20 moves. I try to play positional chess. I’m a positional player, but with tactics. I like tactics. I’m not trying to win fast. I try to play good chess and focus on winning the game,” he explained.
World champion Magnus Carlsen has praised Oro's potential. In a recent interview on the Take Take Take app, with Oro present, Carlsen noted, “He’s a great player. He has a wonderful positional feeling for chess which is quite rare among such young players. He seems to really love chess, seeing as he plays a ton online and he plays every tournament that he can play.” Carlsen added, “I do think that there are more important things right now than records. (If I was in his place) I would focus on just trying to keep it light, not think about results a whole lot. He’s on an incredible path. Believe me, it’s fun to be that much into something and be that good at it at such an early age. So just enjoy it and the pieces will fall where they may.”
Oro previously held the record as the youngest International Master, though it was soon surpassed. Compared to legends like Carlsen (13 years old at GM), Bobby Fischer (15), and Garry Kasparov (17), Oro's pursuit highlights chess's accelerating youth. D Gukesh, the youngest world champion, missed the record by 17 days.
