IM Faustino Oro, a 12-year-old prodigy, claimed victory in Chess.com's Freestyle Friday tournament on April 17, marking his first win in the weekly event for titled players. He entered the final round tied for the lead and was the only co-leader to secure a win, finishing ahead of GM Pranav Venkatesh. Oro overcame GM S Rohith Krishna earlier and navigated a tense endgame in the finale.
Four players started the tournament with perfect scores after four rounds: Oro, Rohith, IM Sahib Singh, and GM Jules Moussard. Singh upset last week's winner GM Parham Maghsoodloo in round four. By round six, Rohith emerged as the sole leader at 6/6 after Singh blundered and Oro drew with Pranav. Rohith extended his perfect run to 8/8 with quick wins over GM Sergei Movsesian and others, while Oro stayed in contention with steady victories. Oro halted Rohith's streak in round nine by capitalizing on a rook blunder, pulling into a tie for first entering the penultimate round. Both Oro and Singh won their round 10 games—Singh grinding down GM Alexey Sarana in 85 moves—to share the lead with Rohith drawing. In the decisive 11th round, Rohith lost to GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, Singh fell to IM Renato Terry, but Oro prevailed against GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son in a sharp endgame. Centralizing his king with 41...Ke4!, Oro won key pawns and promoted his advantage. Pranav leapfrogged into second by smashing GM Jules Moussard in a tactical blitz. Oro earned $400, the top non-Indian prize, with Pranav taking $250, Singh $150, Rohith $100, and GM Humpy Koneru the women's $100. The win propelled Oro into the top 10 of the Freestyle Friday Championship leaderboard.
