Chess master Leonard Barden described the progress of 12-year-old Argentinian IM Faustino Oro at the Aeroflot Open 2026. Barden describes how calmly Faustino defeated his first opponent, how difficult it was for him to draw in the second round, and how he managed to confidently win the third game.

Leonard Barden

Leonard Barden

Chess master, journalist

“The schedule for Faustino is tight, with three double round days on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday before the final round at 9am on Thursday.

He won his first round as Black smoothly, after outplaying his opponent in the endgame, but rounds two and three could have derailed his tournament.

In round two, he slowly outplayed his opponent with the bishop pair and an extra pawn against a bishop and a knight, but in sight of victory he blundered badly, enabling Black to set up a defensive fortress which White had no way to penetrate. Oro continued for a marathon 108 moves all the way to king, bishop, and the wrong rook pawn against bare king, but finally had to settle for a draw by stalemate.

Fatigued by the long session the previous round, Oro played a sub-par round-three game against the woman grandmaster Ekaterina Goltseva, who steadily built up a strong attack on the Argentine king. Oro found himself in serious danger, but he fought back and secured victory.”

12-years-old Argentinian IM Faustino Oro (2516) holds all records as the youngest player to reach 2500 in Classical, Rapid, and Blitz. Oro has one month remaining to achieve his third and final GM norm and break the record for the youngest Grandmaster in history. A successful performance by Faustino at the Aeroflot Open 2026 will set this world record.

Credit: Aeroflot Open