 "Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa pause their games to watch 11-year-old 'Messi of chess' Faustino Oro at Tata Steel Chess 2025")
Argentina’s chess prodigy Faustino Oro is making headlines at the 2025 Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk an Zee, Netherlands. Oro, an 11-year-old International Master (IM), defeated Indian IM Divya Deshmukh in round seven of the Tata Steel Chess tournament as he caught the attention of world chess champion D Gukesh and Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa.
Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa, who were playing their respective games at the Tata Steel Chess, paused the proceedings for a while to watch Oro play. The two also paused during the time when Oro clinched his victory over Divya and were amazed by the youngster’s achievement.
Who is Faustino Oro?
Faustino Oro, dubbed the "Lionel Messi" of chess, is an International Master who was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 14 October 2013. He has been likened to Argentine football star Lionel Messi because of a similar introduction to sport at a very young age and the immense talent that they possess in their respective sports.
In 2024, Oro became the youngest to attain a norm for the IM title, when he was just 10 years, eight months and 16 days.
He beat American grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra’s record, but Oro’s record stood for less than a year after Roman Shogdzhiev became the youngest to secure an IM norm earlier in January. Roman was just 9 years, 10 months and 7 days when he beat Oro’s record to clinch the IM norm.
Also in 2024, Oro defeated World No 1 Magnus Carlsen in a weekly Bullet Brawl tournament which is conducted by Chess.com.
In 2023, Oro became the youngest to achieve a rating of 2300 in classical chess. However, that record was broken by England’s Ethan Pang in November 2024. Oro has 2.5 points out of a possible seven in the ongoing Tata Steel Chess tournament.
Who is Divya Deshmukh?
Divya Deshmukh, also an IM, is a multiple gold medallist at the Asian Championship, World Junior Championship and the World Youth Championship. She has also won three gold medals at the Olympiad. She was part of the Indian team that won double gold at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Hungary.
Impact Shorts
View AllApart from the gold medals, she has also won an individual bronze medal at the Chess Olympiad. The 19-year-old is India’s second-ranked woman chess player after Koneru Humpy.
 "Trump’s Munir outreach, India tariffs aren’t strategy — it’s about a Nobel: Ex-NSA John Bolton")
 "9 Pakistani soldiers, including an officer, killed in Balochistan attack")
 "Can Delhi follow the Netherlands’ example to end its stray dog crisis?")
 "Netanyahu’s Gaza plan fuels Israeli hostage families’ anger: Strike called on Sunday to end war")
 "Trump’s Munir outreach, India tariffs aren’t strategy — it’s about a Nobel: Ex-NSA John Bolton")
 "9 Pakistani soldiers, including an officer, killed in Balochistan attack")
 "Can Delhi follow the Netherlands’ example to end its stray dog crisis?")
 "Netanyahu’s Gaza plan fuels Israeli hostage families’ anger: Strike called on Sunday to end war")
