.png)
1 day ago
4
Faustino Oro, the 11-year-old “chess Messi” from Argentina, set new world records for his age when he won last week’s Legends and Prodigies tournament in Madrid with an unbeaten 7.5/9, achieving his first grandmaster norm (of three needed for the title) with 1.5 points to spare, plus a 2509 GM rating on Fide’s October rating list.
Oro is the first under-12 in chess history to be rated 2500-plus. His next target will be his second and third GM norms, and with them Abhimanyu Mishra’s world record as the youngest ever GM, within the next four months or so. He already has the World Cup in Goa, the European Club Cup in Greece, and a closed tournament in Argentina lined up.
Mishra had made heavy weather of it in 2021, needing five tournaments in the US and eight in Budapest before he broke Sergey Karjakin’s 2002 record, and this brought significant norm factory criticism. However, that all changed last month when Mishra, now 16, proved himself the real deal by almost qualifying for the 2026 Candidates at the Grand Swiss in Samarkand.
Karjakin drew 6-6 with Magnus Carlsen in the 2016 world title match before losing the rapid tie-break, while Gukesh Dommaraju, the second youngest on the all-time GM list, is the reigning world champion. Hence the portents for Oro’s eventual status in the chess pantheon are bright.
Oro has strong PR support, and that could please chess media looking for a global role model when Carlsen, who has just become the father of a baby boy, eventually retires. Oro has a short and easily memorable surname, which counts for something when his actual and potential rivals include Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Ian Nepomniachtchi and the new Russian talent Roman Shogdzhiev.
after newsletter promotion
Oro has a universal style. He can grind in marathon endings, crush opponents positionally, agree draws in under 10 moves, and score with imaginative attacks. A few chess.com readers alleged that Madrid was a disguised norm factory based on a single opponent blunder (51 Rxf7?? in this game) but in Oro’s previous event, the Fujarah Masters in the United Arab Emirates, he was already very close to a GM norm before fading at the finish. His games there included this powerful strategic crush.
England go into this weekend’s European Team Championship in Batumi, Georgia, with a historic medal record of gold in 1997 ahead of the mighty Russians, and bronze in 2019. This time they are the No 6 seeds in a field of 39, but are missing their top-rated player, GM David Howell, who is concentrating on his successful career as a commentator.
The likely England board order is the former Russian champion Nikita Vitiugov, the nine-time and reigning British champion, Michael Adams, Gawain Maroroa Jones, Luke McShane, and England’s youngest GM, Shreyas Royal, 16. GM William Watson is the captain. Germany, headed by Matthias Blübaum and Vincent Keymer, fresh from their Fide Grand Swiss achievements, are the top seeds and favourites. Further team details are here.
In the European Women’s Team Championship, England, captained by GM Stuart Conquest, are seeded 12th out of 36 teams. Their likely board order is Jovanka Houska, Lan Yao, Elmira Mirzoeva, Harriet Hunt, and 10-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan.
Games start at noon BST, and England’s games can be viewed live and free on lichess and chess.com. Round one is on Sunday.
3992: 1 Qxg7+! Kxg7 2 Bd8+! Kh8 3 Rg8+! Rxg8 4 Bf6+ Rg7 5 Bxg7+ Kg8 6 Bxd4+ Kf7 7 Rf1+ Ke7 8 Bxb2 and White wins on material.
