‘I beat Magnus Carlsen thrice… With Vishy Anand, we…’: Faustino Oro, 12-year-old chess prodigy, drops bombshell verdict
Despite being only 12-years-old, Faustino Oro has already defeated Magnus Carlsen thrice and has also faced Viswanathan Anand.
Faustino Oro, Argentina's 12-year-old chess sensation, came out on top in the Prodigy (U21) category of the GCL Contenders 2025 Knockout Challengers Round, alongside GM Jose Martinez and WGM Mai Narva. The three players are now the official ambassadors of the Global Chess League's (GCL) season 3. It means that if any GCL team needs a short-term replacement on the prodigy board, Oro can fill in.
In September this year, Oro bagged his first GM norm at the Legends and Prodigies 2025 tournament in Madrid, becoming the second-youngest player to get a GM norm after D Gukesh.
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Despite being only 12-years-old, Oro has already defeated Magnus Carlsen thrice and has also faced Viswanathan Anand.
Speaking to The Indian Express, he said, "Both Magnus and Vishy are incredible players and legends. I played Magnus online and Vishy over the board, so it was kind of not the same. Both are incredible. Against both players, for me, it was just a chess game."
"I didn’t have any pressure because I believe they should have won against me because they are better players. So I don’t have the pressure.
"With Magnus I played eight games and I won three. He won four. One draw. With Vishy, we played in Italy this year in June and then in July in Lyon. And we played two games in Italy, he won 2-0. Then in Lyon, he won 3.5-2.5. So losing score with both," he added.
He also had the world record for the youngest International Master, which he bagged in June 2024 at the age of 10 years, 8 months and 16 days. The record was then broken by Roman Shogdzhiev in May 2025 at the age of 10 years, 3 months and 21 days.
