Faustino Oro - Young Chess Prodigies

In this edition of ChessKid Spotlight, we focus on one of the game's up-and-coming young stars: FM Faustino Oro, also known as Fausti!

Who is Faustino Oro?

FM Faustino Oro is a young chess player from Argentina who has made a name for himself as one of the world's top chess prodigies. He's also been one of ChessKid's most popular guest stars since 2021, when he started doing fun live streams together with WIM Ivette Garcia! These days, Fausti lives in Spain and is doing amazing things in the chess world with the support of his family.

How Old Is Fausti?

Fausti was born on October 14, 2013. You do the math!

A picture of chess prodigy Faustino Oro.

Background & Achievements

Fausti was the youngest ever player to reach a FIDE rating of 2300, when he was only nine years old
He also became the youngest ever person to score an IM norm, aged nine
He defeated GM Magnus Carlsen, the #1-ranked player in the world, in a bullet game in March 2024
His achievements have led to being nicknamed 'The Messi of Chess' in his native Argentina
In 2024, with a FIDE rating of 2330, he became the world's top-rated player under 12 years of age
Fausti secured his second IM norm at the Continental American Championship in 2024

Best Game(s)

Our young hero has had a lot of highlights in his chess career so far. He's beaten some amazing and super-famous players, including IM Levy Rozman (a.k.a. GothamChess), GM Hikaru Nakamura, and Magnus.

Here are some of his best games:

Faustino Oro celebrating with a dance after beating GM Magnus Carlsen.

Fausti celebrating with a quick victory dance after defeating the world #1.

FunMasterMike Says...

"I first came across Fausti when he started streaming on his own channel during the pandemic. The only thing worse than my chess skills are my Spanish skills, but even though I didn't understand what he was saying, his energy was infectious! I became a fan right away. Of course, he went on to become a very strong player too; perhaps a generational talent. My only hope is that he doesn't learn English. Otherwise, I'm out of a job for sure."

Fun Facts About Fausti

Fausti loves football (soccer) and likes to play FIFA
His favorite club is Vélez Sarsfield
In his spare time, Fausti also likes to stream on his YouTube channel
His ChessKid show is called 'Faustino El Pequeño Gigante", which means "Faustino The Little Giant"
Fausti is a ChessKid ambassador, and you might see him popping up in our videos from time to time!

We are big fans of Fausti here at ChessKid, and we look forward to seeing his accomplishments in the years to come!