10-Year-Old Fausti Oro Goes Viral After Beating Magnus Carlsen On Chess.com

10-year-old prodigy FM Faustino Oro is once again in the spotlight. Now a clip of the Argentinian beating world number-one Magnus Carlsen in Chess.com's Bullet Brawl has captured the attention of millions of viewers within a few days.

Few players can claim victory against a world champion, but now 10-year-old Oro has achieved just that. On Sunday 'Fausti' beat none other than Carlsen in Chess.com's weekly Bullet Brawl tournament, played with a minute on the clock for each player, after Carlsen blundered a piece following a tense battle and was forced to resign after 48 moves.

"I beat Carlsen!" exclaimed Oro while streaming the game on his own YouTube channel. The joyous moment was posted by ESPN Argentina and then shared by an Argentinian journalist with two million X/Twitter followers. It currently has more than four million views.

Así fue la reacción de Faustino Oro al ganarle una partida de ajedrez a Magnus Carlsen, el N°1 del ranking y campeón del mundo en ajedrez.pic.twitter.com/RDWYznH935

— VarskySports (@VarskySports) March 25, 2024

"I'm very happy; a great joy for me because I had never played against him," Fausti said after the game, according to Argentinian news site InfoBae. Carlsen is yet to comment on the loss.

It was an impressive display by the youngster, who was never worse and led on the clock after winning a pawn in the opening. Seven seconds behind, Carlsen blundered a piece on move 38 in a roughly equal endgame and resigned 10 moves later.

Oro finished 21st in the Bullet Brawl, an event that was won by GM Hikaru Nakamura, ahead of GM Jose Martinez and GM Daniel Naroditsky, who remarkably are players Oro has previously beaten in bullet.

It's no surprise that Fausti has become a fan-favorite for his confidence and sense of humor, as shown by his comment after Carlsen's blunder: “If I lose in this position, I have to retire from chess.”

If I lose in this position, I have to retire from chess.

—Faustino Oro, while playing Magnus Carlsen

The news of Oro's triumph spread like wildfire, capturing headlines around the world: at home in Argentina, in India, in Spain's biggest newspaper Marca, and in the gaming news site Dexerto.

¡Un prodigio argentino de 10 años le gana una partida a Carlsen! https://t.co/1mWic1MX40

— MARCA Polideportivo (@MarcaTMF) March 25, 2024

Even world number-15 and social media personality GM Anish Giri couldn't resist joining the conversation with a playful joke, posting on X/Twitter: "What's all the hype, Carlsen would still probably beat him in a long classical chess match, especially if it's 14 or 16 games."

The prodigy was nicknamed the "Messi of Chess" by Argentinian media for his incredible skills on the board, especially as FaustinoOro on Chess.com, where he boasts impressive ratings of 3000 in blitz and 2900 in bullet., firmly ranking himself among the world's top players in these formats.

Last year Oro, as a 9-year-old, became the youngest player ever to achieve a classical rating of 2300. A few months later, he followed that up by also becoming the youngest to score an IM norm. He has since become an ambassador for ChessKid, where he showcased his skills in speed chess by beating IM Levy 'GothamChess' Rozman in the ChessKid Stars vs Streamers last December.

With a FIDE rating of 2330, he is currently the world's top rated player under 12 years of age.

Oro and his family last year moved to Badalona in Spain to focus on Faustino's chess career.

“In addition to his 12 hours of weekly classes with specialized teachers, Fausti dedicates an endless amount of hours to watching videos, learning new strategies, and training. To this we must add all the games that he plays for pure fun. Last week he played close to 200 games, that's more than 20 hours,” his father Alejandro told InfoBae.

The young Argentinian is ready for his next battle on the chessboard. Today, the Holy Week International Chess Open begins in San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, with Oro seeded 88th among the 417 participants in a field headed by GMs Kirill Alekseenko, Vasyl Ivanchuk, and Daniil Yuffa. 

Meanwhile, Oro has already set his goals high. In a video filmed by Chess.com, he said: "I am Faustino Oro, I am 10 years old, and I want to become world champion."

"Soy Faustino Oro, tengo 10 años y quiero ser Campeón Mundial"

Lo ha visualizado, lo va a hacer 👏👏👏🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/QSBAqg32lL

— Chess.com en Español (@chesscom_es) March 26, 2024