After a global vote, the 12-year-old Argentine prodigy was recognized by FIDE as one of the best in the discipline
Compartir:
Faustino Oro continues writing an extraordinary story in world chess. At just 12 years old, the Argentine was chosen as the best youth chess player on the planet in a vote organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) during the World Rapid and Blitz Championship held in Doha, Qatar.
The distinction arose from a global poll conducted through YouTube, in which Oro obtained 43% of the votes and surpassed the Turk Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (36%), the American Andy Woodward (14%) and the Russian Ivan Zemlyanskii (7%). In the same vote, Magnus Carlsen was crowned as the best male chess player and the Indian Divya Deshmukh as the best female player.
Oro ganó el premio a mejor ajedresista juvenil de 2025
The recognition crowned a year of enormous growth for the young international master, who not only collected individual awards, but also competed on equal terms with the world elite. In Doha, Oro finished 77th out of 247 participants in the rapid tournament, with 7 points, and he was 67th in blitzout of 252 players, after scoring 10.5 points in 19 rounds.
Throughout the year, the Argentine excelled in various international tournaments and achieved his first two grandmaster norms. The first came in September, when he won the "Legends & Prodigies" tournament in Madrid with 7.5 points in nine rounds, becoming the second-youngest chess player in history to achieve it (11 years, 11 months and 9 days).
The second was achieved in December, at the Magistral Szmetan Giardelli held at the Centro Cultural Recoleta, where he finished the tournament with 5.5 points and a streak of draws against higher-rated opponents, including several grandmasters.
The impact of his season was also recognized beyond the federative sphere. At the end of the year, the Spanish newspaper Marca honored him as Best International Breakthrough Athlete, within the annual selection "The 100 in Sports". Oro led the vote open to readers with 27.5% of the ballots, finishing ahead of the player Desiré Doué and the Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi.
Oro también ganó el premio al Mejor Deportista Revelación Internacional
Now, the Argentine prodigy is pursuing a greater challenge: if he obtains his third and final norm before March 7, 2026, he could become the youngest grandmaster of all time and break a record that currently belongs to the American Abhimanyu Mishra.
