'Messi Of Chess' Faustino Oro: 10-Year-Old Argentine Who Beat World Number 1 Magnus Carlsen

Faustino Oro's ELO rating at 10 is better than Carlsen, D Gukesh, Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa when they were this age.

Faustino Oro won his first International Mastera title back in September 2023.

Source : X/@FIDE_chess

Faustino Oro: For many people around the world, the first person that probably comes to their mind when the hear the name of the country Argentina is the legendary footballer Lionel Messi. However, he is not the only sporting star that is making all the noise in recent times. When it comes to chess too, they have a 'Messi' of their own in Faustino Oro. The young chess prodigy recently beat World number 1 Magnus Carlsen.

Notably, Oro won his first International Mastera title back in September 2023. It was since then itself that the chess world bestowed on him the title of being 'Messi of Chessi' with him also hailing from Messi's country of birth. Born in 2013, Faustino showed his intial interest in chess only four years ago, at a time when the Coronavirus pandemic was fast spreading. This was the time when Oro learnt chess by watching videos on YouTube.

In September 2020, Oro's father got him to a professional chess coach at that time the wonder boy was aged just 6. His extraordinary calculations skills sets him apart from the rest of the boys at his age. While usually those who play chess at a young age rely on clever moves, Oro's gameplay is a combination of clever moves as well as strategy. He is not afraid of taking on the big names which is why he could compete fearlessly againts Grandmaster Carlsen.

Faustino Oro Has A Better ELO Score Than Top Grandmasters When They Were His Age

Notably, Oro has a better ELO score than top grandmasters when they were his age. His ELO rating at 10 is better than Carlsen, D Gukesh, Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa when they were this age. None of these players had managed to breach an FIDE rating of 2300 when they Oro's age while Oro has a rating of 2325 points. Oro achieved the best ELO Score in the Under-10, Under-11 age group category.