12-Year-Old Faustino Oro Rises To No. 5 On Chess.com, Eyes Youngest GM Record

Argentinian prodigy IM Faustino Oro continues to break barriers. In recent weeks, he climbed to fifth on the Chess.com blitz leaderboard. On Saturday, the youngster begins his hunt for his final grandmaster norm, which could make him the youngest GM in history.

The chess world has become used to "Fausti" grabbing the headlines with his unprecedented achievements, but his performances in the past month have been nothing short of extraordinary for the 12-year-old dubbed the "Messi of Chess" by Argentinian media.

He has climbed up the rankings by playing some of the world's best players in three consecutive Titled Tuesday events. Oro had the following results:

• February 17: 5th with 9/11, defeating GM Hans Niemann
• February 10: 6th with 9/11, defeating GM Vladislav Artemiev 
• February 3: 15th with 8/11, defeating world number-four GM Vincent Keymer

By gaining 150 rating points in a month, he jumped to an astonishing fifth place on the Chess.com leaderboard. His new personal best rating: 3295.

Faustino Oro acaba de entrar en el Top 5 mundial. Lo que está logrando Fausti no tiene ninguna lógica. #Historico pic.twitter.com/GGSd9UoL4F

— David Martínez (@El_Divis) February 22, 2026

The "Messi of Chess" has since dropped to eighth with 3271, but still sits ahead of stars such as GMs Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Not too shabby for a 12-year-old.

“I’ve been winning a lot of games lately,” Oro said in a new interview with Chess.com's own IM David Martinez, who has followed the youngster closely as the star commentator for the Spanish-speaking chess community.

I’ve been winning a lot of games lately.
—Faustino Oro

La reacción de Faustino Oro al ganar a Hans Niemann 🐐 pic.twitter.com/y8z7Mq8b6I

— Chess.com en Español (@chesscom_es) February 5, 2026

Fausti also talked about how he prefers to play 3+0, instead of 3+1, and said that he thrives when he can use the clock as a weapon against his older opponents. “When we’re both low on time—tense middlegame, lots of pieces—I usually like it more,” he said. “My favorite format is blitz.”

While the kid has been impressive online, he has also proven his grandmaster level in blitz over-the-board, such as in the FIDE World Blitz Championship 2025, where he scored 10.5/19 with a 2670 performance, defeating several top grandmasters, such as GM Levon Aronian.

However, these days he has shifted toward classical chess, where he will be chasing his third and final GM norm. The first norm came in September, at the Legends and Prodigies tournament in Madrid, which he won with an undefeated 7.5/9 —clinching the norm with two rounds to spare. The second norm followed just a few months later at home in Argentina, where he once again was able to show he's ready for the next level.

Now comes the final step. Oro is playing in the Aeroflot Open in Moscow from February 28 to March 6, in a strong field with 51 grandmasters and 58 international masters. If he succeeds, he will become the youngest grandmaster in history, surpassing GM Abhimanyu Mishra's record by a few days.

The World's Youngest Grandmasters

It would add to a long list of extraordinary records he has broken over the years, even if some of them have since been surpassed:

• Youngest-ever 2200 player
• Youngest-ever 2300 player
• Highest-rated 10-year-old ever
• Highest-rated 12-year-old ever
• Youngest to ever achieve an IM norm
• Youngest-ever IM
• Youngest to ever achieve a 2500 rating
• Youngest to reach a 3000 blitz rating on Chess.com

“I feel good, and I am excited about that tournament,” he told Martinez. “I have the chance to break the record, but I’m just going to play and try to enjoy it and go without pressure. I’m excited.”

I have the chance to break the record, but I’m just going to play and try to enjoy it and go without pressure.
—Faustino Oro

"El Divis" Martinez, who has followed Oro closely as a commentator in Spanish, believes the Argentinian is far from done, telling Chess.com:

“The truly incredible thing about Faustino is that he always finds a way to surprise us,” Martinez told Chess.com. “I thought it was amazing that he managed to get his first grandmaster norm two rounds early. It also seems almost impossible that, at just 12 years old, he has managed to break into the top five worldwide in blitz on Chess.com."

"With these precedents, one might think that nothing can astonish us anymore... but I'm convinced he'll do it again. He's a complete player and, moreover, a lethal competitor. Honestly, I don't see any limits for him," Martinez said.

One might think that nothing can astonish us anymore... but I'm convinced he'll do it again.
—David Martinez on Faustino Oro

The popular commentator is also optimistic about Oro’s chances in Moscow, especially given the unusual 60 minutes plus 30 seconds time control with two games per day.

"It may sound exaggerated, but I genuinely believe he has real chances to fight for the top places. With this time control, I think his level is already about 2650. Of course, tournaments are always tough and anything can happen, but I believe he’ll deliver a great performance."

Recent performances show that the confidence in Fausti is not misplaced. In January, he scored 7/13 and finished sixth in this year's Tata Steel Chess Challengers, defeating two grandmasters. That's no longer a big deal for the 12-year-old, as he has become used to it. He told Chess.com he doesn't feel nervous about these encounters any more.

"I've been playing against a lot of grandmasters, so it feels normal now," he said, adding: "Maybe at the start of 2025 in the Tata Steel, things went very badly for me and I lost to all the GMs. Now I have a lot of experience."

The Argentinian prodigy remains with his feet on the ground, knowing full well he still has a lot to learn: "Winning won games is actually quite difficult," Oro admitted. "It doesn’t seem like it should be, but it is—especially when there are many pieces left."

Grandmasters are in line to express their admiration for the young Argentinian, and GM Magnus Carlsen is no exception. In January, Oro was invited to visit the Oslo office of Carlsen's own company, Take Take Take. The two played a blitz game and spoke about chess.

It must've been a surreal moment for the prodigy, who was barely one month old when Carlsen won his first world title in 2013. "Yes, I was very happy to see him," Oro said about Carlsen, whom he said is his favorite player.

“I like Magnus because he plays so well,” he said. “I’ve always liked his style and his attitude—how he always plays to win. I hope I can see him again at tournaments."

Carlsen, who tends to hold back when asked about rising talents, was unusually blunt, saying: 

"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, seeing as he plays a ton online. He also seems to have great support, to kind of let him do his thing."

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.
—Magnus Carlsen on Faustino Oro

The former world champion, who himself became a grandmaster at 13, also offered his own advice: "I would focus on just trying to keep it light, and not think about results a whole lot. He is on an incredible path," Carlsen said.

"Believe me, it's fun to be that much into something and be that good at it at such an early age. Just enjoy it, and the pieces will fall as they may."

Whether the final norm comes now, or later, one thing is clear. For Fausti, this is only the beginning.

You can watch Martinez' full interview with Fausti in Spanish below (turn on captions):