Argentine phenomenon Faustino Oro keeps shocking the chess world. The 10-year-old won the Masters Tournament at the Club d’Escacs in Barcelona, making him the youngest player ever to achieve the rank of International Master.

Born October 14, 2013, he secured the title at just ten years, eight months and 16 days. He broke the previous record, held by U.S. player Abhimanyu Mishra, who did it in 2019 aged 10 years, nine months and three days.

International Master is one of four open titles granted by FIDE (International Chess Federation by its French acronym), and is second only to Grandmaster. Current world number one Magnus Carlsen secured the rank at 13 years, four months and 26 days.

The tournament in Barcelona — which he won unbeaten — became Oro’s second title outside Argentina, after winning the U-10 Panamerican title in 2022 in Uruguay, and his first in Europe. Oro had also become the second youngest player to reach a 2400 ELO rating, the system by which FIDE ranks chess players. The youngest to ever do it was Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov, currently the world number six.

Oro’s achievements didn’t go unnoticed. Former world champion and world number one Garry Kasparov congratulated the Argentine online. “‘Chessi?’ They keep getting younger!” wrote Kasparov on X, in a nod to Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi.

The young chess star amazed the world in March, when he beat Carlsen during the 2024 Bullet Brawl. Oro beat the five-time World Chess Champion in 48 moves and finished 21st overall in the tournament.