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“In the two years I have been commenting on Faustino’s tournaments, he has never withdrawn from a game. In chess, this is called a ‘no-show’ — not showing up to play.

Who was his opponent? The lowest-rated opponent in the entire tournament — Alisher Abdsattar, a CM rated 2185.

There’s another factor to consider. In another round, Alisher also had his opponent fail to show up — IM Qi Chen b from China, rated 2484.

So Alisher Abdsattar won his last two games without playing — by opponent no-show. That would seem like a great result! But in reality, this is very bad news for Alisher Absattar.

He didn’t play the last two games. Before that, he showed an incredible result. He drew with a 2553 GM — a difference of almost 400 points — then drew with a player around 2600. He beat two IMs and two strong FMs. Then he drew against an Israeli IM rated 2504. At that point, his performance was 2655 — grandmaster level!

A boy who is not even a FIDE Master yet could have completed a GM norm immediately… But in round eight, the Chinese player didn’t show up, and in round nine — Faustino Oro.

What’s the problem? Tournament rules for norms allow only one no-show. If two opponents fail to show up, the entire tournament, no matter how good, loses its status as a norm tournament. So everything Alisher Abdsattar did — one of the most incredible performances in history for a 2185-rated player — went to waste.

And here a thought arises: what if the opponents simply didn’t want to play him? Were they afraid of losing rating? Or were they truly sick? Faustino’s family confirmed he was ill. There is no information about the Chinese player.

If Faustino was truly sick — nothing can be said. If the Chinese player was sick — same. But when a boy with such a low rating shows this level, it inevitably raises suspicions.

Let us see what the organizers say, and whether FIDE says anything. We already know Emil Sutovsky did not like this. Many grandmasters have also spoken out.

Unfortunately, chess still has things that need improvement. One rule helps some — and breaks everything for others…”