For much of his pre-teen years, the clock was the Argentinian prodigy’s fiercest rival. Every tournament, every move, every half-chance missed and every hard-fought win was a race against time to break the sport’s most coveted age record: becoming the youngest Grandmaster in chess history. For Faustino Oro, that record remained agonisingly out of reach, but he emerged with a consolation that is itself a slice of history on Sunday. At 12 years, 6 months and 26 days old, he became the second-youngest player ever to earn the Grandmaster title.
The historic moment arrived at the Sardinia World Chess Festival in Italy, where Oro officially clinched his third and final GM norm. With that, his name was etched into the record books right behind American Abhimanyu Mishra, who had claimed the highest title in chess at 12 years, four months, and 25 days in July 2021.
Nicknamed ‘Messi of Chess’, Oro is just the seventh player to accomplish this feat before turning 13, joining an elite list that includes Mishra, Sergey Karjakin, D Gukesh, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, Javokhir Sindarov, and R Praggnanandhaa.
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In March earlier this year, Oro came within just one win of making chess history, until Russian teenager Aleksey Grebnev played the villain in the Argentinian’s fairytale run.
Heading into the final round of the 2026 Aeroflot Open in Moscow, a victory over Grebnev would have secured Oro his third and final GM norm. That would have made him a Grandmaster at 12 years, 4 months, and 19 days, just six days younger than the record holder, Abhimanyu Mishra.
Oro held the record as the first under-12 in chess history to be rated 2500-plus. (FIDE/Anna Shtourman)
Some things are simply not meant to be. Explaining that to an ordinary 12-year-old would have been a difficult task. But Oro is no ordinary 12-year-old. Far more mature than his age suggests, Oro took that heartbreaking loss in his stride and promised he would become a Grandmaster “soon.”
“I didn’t play badly overall, but today I didn’t play a good game. In fact, I played quite a bad game,” he had said after the defeat that shattered his dream.
“The good thing is that I will probably get the norm soon. Without the record, but I will become a Grandmaster soon,” Oro had said with a bubble of energy and enthusiasm, speaking to the Spanish international news agency EFE.
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The boy from Buenos Aires held the record as the first under-12 in chess history to be rated 2500-plus. He had previously broken the record for the world’s youngest International Master in June 2024, achieving his final norm at the age of 10 years, 8 months, and 16 days. However, his IM record has since been surpassed by 10-year-old Roman Shogdzhiev from Russia, who achieved the feat at just 10 years, 3 months, and 21 days, a full five months younger.
Behind Oro’s record-breaking spree lies a remarkably calm head. He may be blessed with immense talent, but there is a method to his madness.
Oro had previously broken the record for the world’s youngest International Master in June 2024. (FIDE/Michal Walusza)
“I’m a positional player, but with tactics,” Oro had told The Indian Express. “I like tactics, and I believe I am a tactical player too. But I believe I’m not dynamic. I don’t try to checkmate my opponent in 20 moves. I try to play good chess and focus on winning the game.”
Carlsen’s stamp of approval
Oro’s talent has already earned the stamp of approval from the greatest player of this generation, Magnus Carlsen.
“He’s a great player. He has a wonderful positional feeling for chess, which is quite rare among such young players,” Carlsen said in an interview with Take Take Take. “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. 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.”
The record that once seemed destined for his name may belong to another, but Oro has something far more valuable than his name in the history books. He has time, years of it. For now, the boy from Argentina can stand tall among the giants of the game. And as Carlsen had said, the pieces have fallen where they may.
Faustino Oro became the second youngest Grandmaster in chess history. (Harry Gielen/ Tata Steel Chess) 
Oro held the record as the first under-12 in chess history to be rated 2500-plus. (FIDE/Anna Shtourman)
Oro had previously broken the record for the world’s youngest International Master in June 2024. (FIDE/Michal Walusza)
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