Dream over, for now: Faustino Oro out of 2025 Chess World Cup

Argentine chess prodigy Faustino Oro is out of the 2025 Chess World Cup after losing his second-round tiebreaker to Indian Grandmaster Vidit Santosh Gujrathi on Thursday. Oro, 12, had unexpectedly forced the decider after tying with Gujrathi, who is ranked 27 in the world, on Wednesday. He was the youngest participant in the tournament, and the last Argentine in contention after the elimination of Grandmaster Diego Flores and International Master Ilan Schnaider.  “Happy to go through to the next round,” wrote Gujrathi on X. “Faustino is definitely talented and is already mature in his play for his age! Lots of potential in him to become a top player.” Despite the elimination, Oro will see his ELO Ranking rise by 26 points. On Monday, he became the youngest player ever to win a match at a Chess World Cup when he beat Croatia’s Ante Brkic 5-3 in a first-round tiebreaker match. Gujrathi will go on to face Sam Shankland from the United States. The World Cup, played under a knockout system, is held in Goa, India, and features 206 chess players from 80 countries. It awards US$2 million in prizes, of which US$120,000 will go to the winner. Oro burst into the spotlight in 2024 after beating Norway’s Carlsen, arguably the world’s most prominent chess player at present.  At the time, he shocked the world’s number-one player, beating him in the 2024 Bullet Brawl, a “bullet chess” tournament, where each player gets one minute on the clock and no time increments per move. Players are paired during a two-hour event, with games streamed online, and the one with the most points wins. “I like everything about this game, but the tactics are probably my favorite. Playing against great masters, figuring out difficult situations, all that,” Oro said after beating Brkic. Oro is now set to return to Argentina, where he’ll be part of an exhibition in Bahía Blanca on November 15 and 16. There, he’ll face off against current Argentine champion Sandro Mareco in a six-game match, at the Down Center exhibition center.