Un prodigio de 10 años

A 10-year-old prodigy

Argentine chess is not going through its best moment, it is known and a frequent comment in the federation and in all the clubs and organizations that are fully dedicated to the dissemination and practice of the scientific game.

Despite several projects and many efforts, it has not been possible for schools to accept its teaching as another subject on the syllabus offered. There are many examples of this in different countries around the world, but here they are not convinced of its usefulness in the training of students. young people, therefore, and since I am not an expert on these issues, we will leave it there.

However, from time to time, some talents emerge and this is the case of Faustino Oro, a boy who is only 10 years old, whom I have already mentioned in another publication.

Thanks to the COVID pandemic, something good came out of it like this case or the home office, Faustino learned to play chess, partly to occupy his free time in the period of mandatory confinement, a too long time in which we all suffered the confinement and this child's parents knew how to take advantage of it very well.

Originally from the Federal Capital, Faustino is already considered the best chess player in the world in the category up to 10 years old, and a few days ago he made his debut in an international concert, no less than in the Rapid and Blitz World Championships that took place in the city of Samarkand, in Uzbekistan, with the FIDE organization. Many of the world's chess elite gathered there, including the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, considered the best in the world.

Faustino thus had his debut in two demanding tournaments, he had to play 13 rounds in the world Rapid tournament at 15 minutes plus the addition of 10 seconds per move and previously in the world Blitz tournament at 21 rounds with a pace of 3 minutes per game plus an additional 2 seconds per play. With more than 200 registered, 143 Grand Masters, the Argentine boy with the FIDE Master title and an International Master standard (three are needed to obtain that title), competed with a large majority of players who had an ELO higher than his, and many were twice his age or more.

He had a good performance in both tournaments, despite not having outstanding results, he surpassed his pre-qualification finishing 186th with 4 points in the rapid and 174th in the Blitz with 8.5 points. In both competitions, he began by losing the first games, probably due to his nervousness when facing great figures. He recomposed himself and achieved several outstanding victories, among which his victory against a Grandmaster of Russian origin who has an ELO of almost 300 points stands out. elderly; One of his moves was selected as the best in the Blitz tournament when he won by sacrificing his queen.

Carlsen, as expected, won both tournaments, having lost only one game and taking home two checks of $60,000 each.

Faustino's learning does not stop, the coaches along with his parents have decided to give him more international experience, so starting January 24 he will participate in the Young Masters tournament in Arabia in which he is seeded second to last.

We'll see what happens then, I'll keep you posted.