History was made when IM Faustino Oro sealed his final grandmaster norm with a round to spare at the Sardinia World Chess Festival in Italy on Saturday. The Argentinian “Messi of Chess” becomes the second-youngest player ever to earn the title.
A total of 29 grandmasters competed in the 158-player A Open event held in Sardinia from May 3-10, with German GM Frederik Svane taking clear first place on 7.5/9 (15.16 FIDE Circuit points), ahead of GM Haik Martirosyan (10.34) from Armenia and Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (9.65) on seven points.
The story of the tournament, however, was Oro’s 6/9. The 12-year-old made history as he scored his third and final grandmaster norm, securing the most prestigious title in chess at the age of just 12 years, six months, and 26 days.
Standings Sardinia World Chess Festival | Open A
| Rank | Player | FED | Rating | Points | Rating +/- |
| 1 | Frederik Svane | 2645 | 7.5 | 11.9 | |
| 2 | Haik M. Martirosyan | 2636 | 7 | 12.4 | |
| 3 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2729 | 7 | 3.9 | |
| 4 | Mamikon Gharibyan | 2477 | 7 | 7.9 | |
| 5 | Brandon Jacobson | 2594 | 6.5 | 8.7 | |
| 6 | Murali Karthikeyan | 2648 | 6.5 | 2.8 | |
| 7 | Mustafa Yilmaz | 2549 | 6.5 | 6.9 | |
| 8 | Atilla Kuru | 2464 | 6.5 | 23.1 | |
| 9 | Parham Maghsoodloo | 2710 | 6.5 | -3.1 | |
| 10 | Vuppala Prraneeth | 2515 | 6.5 | 15.9 | |
| 11 | Lorenzo Lodici | 2590 | 6.5 | 4.3 | |
| 12 | Pouya Idani | 2594 | 6.5 | 2.4 | |
| 13 | Yahli Sokolovsky | 2564 | 6.5 | 3.1 | |
| 14 | Chongsheng Zeng | 2557 | 6.5 | 7.9 | |
| 15 | Abhimanyu Puranik | 2607 | 6 | 1.2 | |
| 16 | Faustino Oro | 2528 | 6 | 9 | |
| 17 | Mittal Aditya | 2619 | 6 | -7.4 | |
| 18 | Ivan Saric | 2657 | 6 | -12.5 | |
| 19 | Paul Velten | 2487 | 6 | 0 | |
| 20 | Brewington Hardaway | 2510 | 6 | -0.4 |
Full Standings.
It’s another extraordinary feat by the “Messi of Chess,” who could celebrate becoming the second-youngest grandmaster in history, behind only GM Abhimanyu Mishra (12 years, four months, 25 days), and ahead of GM Sergey Karjakin, whose record stood for nearly two decades.
“I am feeling very good. I am happy with the tournament and obviously with getting my last norm. Now I am a GM. I am really, really happy,” he said in an interview with ChessBase India.
Now I am a GM. I am really, really happy,
—Faustino Oro
Asked by ChessBase India whether he could imagine becoming a grandmaster at 12, he said: “When I started, for sure not. Maybe one or two years ago, I could imagine it. But for sure not when I started playing chess, I would not imagine this in the best scenario.”
Oro clinched the norm after defeating IM Bartlomiej Niedbala in the penultimate round—a game that appeared headed for a draw before he punished passive endgame play to break through on the queenside
That win took him to 6/8 and a performance rating of 2631. Normally, another half point would be required, but a final-round pairing with two-time world championship challenger Nepomniachtchi guaranteed that he would achieve the necessary performance regardless of the result. Being paired with the strongest possible opponent turned out to be exactly what he needed.
Faustino Oro has secured the GM norm with a round to spare after being paired with Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final round, which means he will be the second-youngest GM ever at 12 years, 6 months, and 26 days! pic.twitter.com/2947zJub8S
— chess24 (@chess24com) May 9, 2026
Oro lost the game in the end, but Nepomniachtchi praised his opponent: “It’s a great achievement for him. He was quite close in the Aeroflot Open, and today he played quite well,” he said.
Earlier in the tournament, Oro held strong GMs such as Aditya Mittal, Karthikeyan Murali, and Leon Luke Mendonca to draws.
A key win came in round five, when Oro tricked his Italian opponent in the endgame.
He shared his thoughts on the game in this interview with the organizers.
The Argentinian now joins a prestigious list of only seven players to become grandmasters before their 13th birthday.
Youngest Grandmasters In History
| No. | FED | Player | Age |
| 1 | Abhimanyu Mishra | 12 years, 4 months, 25 days | |
| 2 | Faustino Oro | 12 years, 6 months, 26 days | |
| 3 | Sergey Karjakin | 12 years, 7 months, 0 days | |
| 4 | Gukesh Dommaraju | 12 years, 7 months, 17 days | |
| 5 | Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus | 12 years, 9 months, 29 days | |
| 6 | Javokhir Sindarov | 12 years, 10 months, 5 days | |
| 7 | Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | 12 years, 10 months, 13 days | |
| 8 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 13 years, 1 month, 11 days | |
| 9 | Parimarjan Negi | 13 years, 4 months, 22 days | |
| 10 | Magnus Carlsen | 13 years, 4 months, 27 days | |
| 11 | Wei Yi | 13 years, 8 months, 23 days | |
| 12 | Andy Woodward | 13 years, 8 months, 28 days | |
| 13 | Raunak Sadhwani | 13 years, 9 months, 28 days | |
| 14 | Bu Xiangzhi | 13 years, 10 months, 13 days | |
| 15 | Samuel Sevian | 13 years, 10 months, 27 days | |
| 16 | Richard Rapport | 13 years, 11 months, 6 days | |
| 17 | Marc’Andria Maurizzi | 14 years, 0 months, 5 days | |
| 18 | Teimour Radjabov | 14 years, 0 months, 14 days | |
| 19 | Ruslan Ponomariov | 14 years, 0 months, 17 days | |
| 20 | Nihal Sarin | 14 years, 1 month, 1 day |
“Fausti,” as he is known among friends, secured the grandmaster title nearly three years after Chess.com first reported on the Argentinian in 2023. Back then he broke the record for becoming the youngest-ever to reach 2300, having previously become the youngest-ever 2200 player.
The youngster has since set several incredible records, such as becoming the youngest-ever IM at 10 in 2024. He remains the highest-ever rated 11-year-old, and is already targeting GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus’ record (2569) for the highest-rated 12-year-old.
The Argentinian scored his first grandmaster norm and crossed 2500 in Legends & Prodigies in Madrid last year. He followed up a few months later in December by scoring his second norm at the Szmetan-Girardelli Masters in Buenos Aires.
Oro’s skills are not limited to over-the-board. He has also proven himself online, becoming the youngest to hit 3000 in blitz on Chess.com, a record that has since been broken. This year he rose to fifth on the Chess.com Leaderboard, and last month he also won his first Freestyle Friday, ahead of several strong grandmasters.
Now based in Spain, he has become a central figure in the Spanish-speaking chess world, drawing widespread attention and sparking Faustimania around the world.
Popular commentator, Chess.com’s own IM David Martinez, has covered Oro’s tournaments in Spanish on his channel. He said:
Faustino Oro has achieved the grandmaster title with such evident superiority that, from now on, it feels as though it’s even short of his capabilities. Once again, he has demonstrated a very high level of technique and a competitive maturity beyond his years.
We are talking about a player who already projects a strength close to 2600. What he is generating in the Spanish-speaking community is something I have never seen before, not even close. We all feel like we are witnessing history live. In my case, furthermore, I have no doubt: Faustino Oro will be one of the best players in the world.
What he is generating in the Spanish-speaking community is something I have never seen before, not even close. We feel like we are witnessing history live.
—David Martinez
His progress has drawn praise from the very top. In January, Oro visited the Oslo office of GM Magnus Carlsen’s company, Take Take Take, where the two played blitz and discussed the game. The world number-one did not hold back.
“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 love chess,” he said, adding: “He’s on an incredible path.”
Despite extraordinary results and global media attention for years already, Oro has remained grounded. He told ChessBase India: “I just try not to think about it, to play my best chess and enjoy it. I believe it’s the most important thing. If you don’t enjoy it, why play?”
He noted that even though he is aware of his talent, he also needs to work hard to achieve great results. “Obviously, I have talent. But with talent alone, you don’t get anywhere. You could be a good player, but you would not become a world champion. A lot of hard work is needed for sure. I train a lot every day, 5-6 hours depending on the day.”
Oro has made it clear he wants to become world champion, but now with the GM title secured, he is targeting his next short-term goal. “I will continue playing and continue to improve. 2600 is my next goal, for sure.”
The attention is unlikely to fade anytime soon, especially with Oro set to represent Argentina on board one at the FIDE Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan this September. Before that, he will be playing in the Leon Masters on July 3-5, facing GMs Volodar Murzin, Liem Le, and Jaime Santos.
