'Messi Of Chess' Faustina Oro Officially Becomes Second Youngest GM In History

Last Updated:May 11, 2026, 10:34 IST

Argentina’s Faustino Oro became the second-youngest Grandmaster ever at 12 after sealing his final GM norm against Ian Nepomniachtchi in Italy.

He’s been turning heads in the chess world for years already… and now Faustino Oro has officially announced himself among the game’s elite.

The 12-year-old Argentine sensation, widely nicknamed the “Messi of Chess", became the second-youngest Grandmaster in history after securing his final GM norm at the Sardinia World Chess Festival 2026 in Italy.

At just 12 years, 6 months, and 26 days old, Oro officially earned the prestigious Grandmaster title, placing himself behind only American prodigy Abhimanyu Mishra, who still holds the all-time record after becoming a GM at 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days in 2021.

The Argentine wonderkid now joins an incredibly exclusive club. Only seven players in chess history have managed to become Grandmasters before turning 13 — a list featuring Mishra, Sergey Karjakin, D Gukesh, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, Javokhir Sindarov, R Praggnanandhaa, and now Oro.

What makes the achievement even more remarkable is how close Oro came to breaking the record earlier this year.

Back in March, he looked set to become the youngest Grandmaster ever during the Aeroflot Open in Moscow. But Russian teenager Aleksey Grebnev spoiled the fairytale by defeating Oro in the final round, delaying the historic moment by just a few months.

Still, the setback barely slowed his rise.

The boy from Buenos Aires had already made history before this latest milestone, becoming the first under-12 player ever to cross the 2500 rating mark.

Oro’s popularity exploded after he defeated five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen in an online game as a 10-year-old back in 2024.

Carlsen, arguably the greatest of all time in the sport himself, has repeatedly praised the youngster’s talent.

“He’s a great player. He has a wonderful positional feeling for chess, which is quite rare among such young players,"Carlsen told 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."

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