For Faustino Oro (Buenos Aires, 2013) age is just a number. At ten years old, this Argentine prodigy is capable of doing things unimaginable for children of his age and height on a chess board. Normality for him is to compete face to face and, sometimes, beat true legends of this sport-science. After the American Hikaru Nakamura, last Saturday he defeated the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, the best player in the world and possibly also in history. He achieved victory in 48 moves and, although he did not achieve first place in the championship, he came 21st out of 156 players.
This boy’s story is unparalleled in the world of chess. He started playing during the pandemic, in 2020, so as not to destroy his living room with the ball, and he ended up being the best player in the world at his age. “I had never seen anything like it before. Because of the results that he has, because of the sight, the talent that he shows, he is unique and comparable to very few people worldwide,” says David Martínez (Divis), coach of the senior national team and commentator on Chess. .com. “I don’t think there are five children under the age of twelve who have the future that Faustino has, he is an exceptional talent,” he says for La Vanguardia.
Such is the projection that the young player has shown that his parents, Alejandro Oro and Romina Simondi, made a vital decision a few months ago. The growth of his son was inevitably going to lead him to stagnation if he remained in Argentina. The number of tournaments and strong players is not enough in the country to continue progressing at the level he needs, so both decided to resign from their positions with executive positions in important companies in Argentina (he, as manager at Laboratorios Bagó after 12 years old; she, at Tecpetrol, one month after turning 21 in the Techint group company). They packed their bags and on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, they arrived in Barcelona to start a new life. Since February they have lived in an apartment in Badalona with their son. All so that Fausti, the precocious genius of world chess, rubs shoulders with the elite.
Five teachers supervise the career of this young talent: Jorge Rosito, international teacher (IM), who accompanies him from the first day; Mario Villanueva (MI): Jorge Cori, grandmaster (GM); Leandro Perdomo (MI), and for four days Tomás Sosa, GM and number 3 of Argentina, the only one based in Barcelona. The latter considers Faustino “a unique talent.” “I never saw anyone that good at that age. And beyond the level, he still sees chess as a game. For him it is a passion. He has a lot of fun. When it becomes a profession it begins to be seen as a job, but in it I still notice that spark of passion,” he explained to this medium.
“I see him winning everything,” he says, convinced, “but this is unpredictable, because there are many factors: talent, work, opportunities, and also attitude, luck and being able to play with the pressure. At the moment he handles it well, but he is very small. Although if he continues like this I see unlimited potential in him,” he says. “Between playing, training and studying, he is watching chess for about five or six hours a day. He already beats me by doing puzzles and solving problems,” confesses Sosa.
The victory against Carlsen in a game of the Bullet Bral 2024 tournament, in which each player has one minute, is a new milestone in his career. For Martínez “it is a bombshell, but more than that, I am impressed by the ELO (chess scoring system) of 2,958, which places him among the 100 best in the world at that rate. It’s absolutely outrageous at ten years old. Something huge and very, very spectacular.” And Sosa adds how mentally strong he is for his age. “Your feet don’t reach the ground from the chair, but you feel like you have a little lion in front of you. He has intuition. What the rest of us find difficult or arrive at by discarding, comes naturally to him. He like Messi in football.”
Playing with white, Oro, who aspires to be MI in the coming months, took advantage of the Norwegian’s mistakes in Bullet (the game was played online) and had an advantageous position from the beginning. “If I lose this game, I’ll retire from chess,” he said while moving the mouse at full speed. He regained the number one position in the world, but at a critical moment, Carlsen dropped a horse. “Let’s go!” the boy shouted, euphoric. A few moves later, the Norwegian, with a pawn and a piece down, decided to abandon, knowing that at these levels he would have no chance. And Faustino Oro raised his arms like someone who scores a goal on the playground, like someone who receives a desired gift at Christmas, and began to dance on his chair. “I beat Carlsen!” he exclaimed happily.
