Oro notches second GM norm
12-year-old Faustino Oro has locked down his second Grandmaster norm, scoring 5.5/9 at the Magistral Szmetan-Giardelli in Buenos Aires. That leaves him with a roughly three-month window to beat out Abhimanyu Mishra for the record of youngest GM in chess history. Mishra accomplished the feat in 2021 at age 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days.
Oro’s tournament began with two wins, followed by seven straight draws, including against 2600-Grandmasters Aryan Tari, Alexei Shirov, and Ivan Cheparinov. His final round result against fellow Argentinian Diego Flores finalized a performance rating of 2608, just above the requirement of 2600 for a norm. It should also, for the moment at least, push him above his peak rating of 2509.
Oro, playing Black in round 9, had a slight advantage out of the opening, with a Queen’s Gambit Declined structure against Flores’s 1. Nf3. It slipped midway, though, and White was able to secure a space advantage and become the stronger side. It briefly became dangerous for Oro, but rather than attempting a kingside pawn breakthrough, Flores was attracted to a dubious exchange sacrifice on the queenside.
On move 40, after 40. fxe5, Black has a decent advantage. White offered a ‘strategic’ draw, accepted by Oro, and the norm was achieved.
You can view the full game, and tournament, on Lichess.
Photo by Michal Walusza
