100th Argentine Championship: Oro fighting for first national title

by Stefan Liebig
12/3/2025 – In the 100th edition of the "Campeonato Argentino Superior" in Buenos Aires, seven-time national champion Diego Flores, 12-year-old prodigy Faustino Oro and 2021 champion Federico Pérez Ponsa are locked in a battle for first place. Flores is leading the standings, with Oro and Pérez a half point back. To get his second GM norm, the "Messi of chess" needs to score 3/3 in his final games. | Pictured: Faustino Oro at a press event with Jorge Macri, the head of government of Buenos Aires | Photo: Organisers, David Llada.
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Faustino Oro looking to become the youngest-ever GM

The 100th Argentine Championship Final (taking place at Casa de la Ciudad in Buenos Aires) is played over 11 rounds.

After round seven, the top seed Diego Flores and the prodigy Faustino Oro shared the lead with 5½ points. A painful loss for Oro in round eight, against Julián Villca, left him tied for second place, as Flores signed a draw with the black pieces. Now Flores leads with 6 points, while Oro is sharing second place with Federico Pérez Ponsa on 5½.

Oro is once again the central attraction of this tournament: the 12-year-old IM has impressed in Buenos Aires with composed play, precise technique and resilience that enables him to hold his own even against far older grandmasters. Oro has been making headlines throughout the year: in September he won the invitational "Legends & Prodigies" event in Madrid, achieved his first grandmaster norm there and surpassed the 2500 Elo mark for the first time. Thanks to that successful outing, he fulfilled two of the three formal requirements for the grandmaster title (three norms + a 2500 Elo rating) — the remaining two norms and official confirmations are still pending.

But securing a second norm at this tournament is not impossible. He needs to win his three remaining games to make it.

Chasing Mishra's record

As for the historical record: the current record-holder as the youngest ever to earn the grandmaster title is the American Abhimanyu Mishra (title at 12 years, 4 months and 25 days, right/photo: David Llada, ChessBase India). Oro was born on 14 October 2013 - meaning that, mathematically, he has until early March 2026 to achieve the remaining two norms and thus complete the requirements for the grandmaster title. That would make him the youngest GM in history, surpassing Mishra. In practical terms, this means that the upcoming international tournaments and norm opportunities in the next few months (including events announced in India, Greece and Argentina) will be crucial for Oro.

In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
The King’s Indian Defence is one of the most dynamic openings in chess - and Pirc structures share much of the same DNA. With colours reversed (the King’s Indian Attack), these setups can be just as powerful. What may look modest at first often transforms into highly complex middlegames, where timing, precision, and a deep feel for dynamics make all the difference.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: Misplaced Pieces

Here is an exciting game played by Oro with the black pieces, from round 6:

In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.

All games

Standings after round 8

In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.

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Topics: Diego Flores, Faustino Oro
Stefan Liebig, born in 1974, is a journalist and co-owner of a marketing agency. He now lives in Barterode near Göttingen. At the age of five, strange pieces on his neighbour’s shelf aroused his curiosity. Since then, the game of chess has cast a spell over him. Flying high in the NRW youth league with his home club SV Bad Laasphe and several appearances in the second division team of Tempo Göttingen were highlights for the former youth South Westphalia champion.
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