The impact of Faustino Oro: how a 10-year-old beat Magnus Carlsen, the world chess number 1

The expert reader has long understood that there are different ways of presenting an event that happens in everyday life as news. If you read it there “A 10-year-old beat the best in the world” Whatever it is, he will without hesitation direct his gaze to the intrigue and impact of that statement. You’ll want to know more. But all the news needs context and analysis to understand why. The intention, therefore, is that when you finish reading these lines it will be clear to you that the victory of Faustino Oro From Magnus Carlsen This can only surprise and astonish those who know neither the Argentine protagonist nor the variables that intervened to make this happen. Starting because if he didn’t beat him before it’s because he had never had the fortune of facing the Norwegian who he gave up his world chess title to seek motivation in other places.

How can you write “lightly” – the critics will say – which is “normal” for a kid who Only on October 14th will 11 candles be blown out win a game against the undisputed king of chess for 13 uninterrupted years? In first placeWhy Fausti He’s not just any kid. He’s a genius. A prodigy with a gift for the elect. A boy like others who during the pandemic smashed furniture with the ball at home and whose parents tempted him with a board and 32 pieces: 16 white and 16 black. He never took his eyes off those squares again: the physical ones and especially the ones seen on the computer screen.

He is passionate about chess. Breathe chess. I love chess. He wants to play chess all the time. And it is here that father Alejandro and mother Romina have a task as monumental as it is loving: nothing more, nothing less than Guide your child to grow as they should grow at 8, 9, 10 years old, knowing at the same time that Fausti AND a beast of calculation and tactics. All in one small package.

How “understandable” is it that it beats the crack current and one of the best in the history of this ancient game? In second placeWhy Fausti era Number one in the world at 8 and 9 years old. And it is with 10, with an ELO of 2,330 points. He is more than 100 points ahead of American Ethan Guo, the second-highest-ranked chess player born in 2013. He has no rivals at his age and always tries to play against older players.

But why does it have to be “normal” for him to beat Magnus Carlsen? In third placebecause he lives by playing – and defeating – great masters in games on line. He did it against many of the best, including the American Hikaru Nakamuranumber 3 in the world, nemesis of the Norwegian for his dialect “spades” and one of superior at a fast pace blitz OR “bullet”. We will soon have to dwell on what this means.

This really shouldn’t be surprising Fausti you won? It must be surprising but you have to understand it. Because inside fourth place, the world of international chess already knows who he is, respects him and awaits him with high guard. You have to bear the pressure of pure sensationalism that calls you “the Messi of chess”. If comparisons are odious, this is downright stupid. Each athlete builds their own path in their own discipline in their own way and what this little gem needs is to go step by step, the guidance of their parents and the advice of the coaches and teachers who face it.

Stop, stop, do you want to continue to convince me that making Carlsen give up in front of a 10 year old is an everyday thing? An everyday thing, no. But the prodigies of world chess wreak havoc. They increasingly reach Grand Master standards at a young age and have the ease of studying on line. The progress of information technology has made it possible to have extraterrestrial modules at hand and artificial intelligence is used to study chess. This is the fifth reason of why.

Just as ping pong players have hours of practice dedicated specifically to serving, teenage chess players spend hours in front of the screen solving problems, betting on tactical shots and train your vision so that reasoning gives them insight into the position of the game and the path to victory.

And try to normalize what was done Fausti It’s not crazy! Obviously it’s not crazy. It is one of the early genes and occurs for all of the above and more reasons. THE sixth and he crack in a small container he has already taken a step that Argentine teachers did as adults: he went to live in Spain. In Catalonia, precisely. One of the centers with the highest concentration of chess clubs and above all renowned international competitions. Because to be better you have to face the best. In any sport.

Mom and Dad left their high-paying jobs to chase the dream of Fausti: be a great teacher. And there all three went, with the priority of living in the family, so that the child could continue his school studies and practice chess and play almost every day. The Fiorito family did the same thing: Father Fabián, international teacher, and mother Roxana settled in Spain with their children Joaquín, international teacher, and Francisco, who will soon be one at the rate he is going.

And it appears seventh topic just to try to put into context why something like this the chess world knew what was coming. How will he beat Carlsen if Fausti Have you ever faced it? Small detail. With their life savings, the family was able to grant the Argentine boy the luxury of competing last December in the World Championships of rapid and blitz, in Uzbekistan. His dream is to face Magnus. It didn’t happen. But it just happened this Saturday during a tournament. on line to the rhythmbullet”.

Which? Welcome to eighth reason which cements this news: the pace of the game. The aim is not to bore but to be pedagogical, because those who are far from chess may think that the game is always played with the same time on digital clocks. At the same pace, as they say in the jargon. NO.

The “chess of thought”, with games that can last up to seven hours, are the most traditional ones, those of matches for the world title, the one that is rarely broadcast on television – except in Norway -, the one that has led generations to stigmatize young chess players as “boring”. Checkmate, what nonsense. But it is thoughtful chess that dictates the rules for titles: from FIDE master to grandmaster. And at this pace Fausti Logically he has a long way to go: he confirmed this in January, when he came last out of ten “young masters” (this is the name of the tournament), in Saudi Arabia. Of course some of his rivals were 300 points ahead of him. And that distance in that rhythm is evident.

But chess is played at multiple rhythms and the change of era, the vertigo and the emergence of platforms on line to play they have enhanced fast games, blitz AND “bullet” (bullet). The fast pace can vary, but the World Cup, for example, is played at 15 minutes per player, plus 10 seconds per move. The increase in time is a key factor, because the player knows that he will not as soon as he moves a piece, seconds are added to continue thinking.

Rhythm”blitz” or the lightning lasts 3 minutes, plus 2 seconds per move. Fury in mobile phone tournaments in bondis. But there is the sum of speed: rhythmbullet” or bullet point, 1 minute “finish”. No increase. And that was the pace at which Carlsen and Oro played in the Chess.com Bullet Brawl, where the Argentine finished 21st and the Norwegian 30th.

Ninth reason of triumph. In a bullet game everything is speed. If you review the video of the duel, there are movements so fast that the eye does not notice them. And mistakes are commonplace. How can the best of all be wrong? Fortunately, human beings are fallible and not machines. Then the errors appear. Carlsen’s first mistake was to propose an exchange of queens which led to him losing a pawn. “If I lose I have to retire from chess,” he heard himself say. Fausti in the live coverage of his departure. Moves later, he reversed the situation: “I’m close to losing.”

Until suddenly, inexplicably, Carlsen placed the horse in a square where it would be immediately eaten. He “hanged himself”, as they say in slang. But how can you leave a horse at the mercy of your rival so that he can eat it peacefully! Because it’s a “bullet” game and it’s played at such a frenetic pace that there comes a time when It seems more like a battle than chess click on the mouse. A online show. You have to know how to play Magnus… Of course! And the quality of Fausti countless teachers can explain it.

The golden boy will play two tournaments at the expected pace. The VIII International Easter Open will be held from Wednesday 27 April to Monday 1 April, in San Vicente del Raspeig, near Alicante. And from 2 to 7 April he will compete in the III Open Chess Menorca. The invitations pour in and his parents choose carefully. It’s not a matter of feeling dizzy or taking hasty steps.

“A 10-year-old beat the best in the world.” If the expert reader now understands why what happened happened, the mission is accomplished. Miracles must be helped with work. There is no other recipe.

Ah, the missing tenth reason of Faustino Oro’s triumph over Magnus Carlsen. His temperament. His cold blood. His lethal gaze on the board and on his rival. The cheekiness of him. He may still be the youngest international master in history, an achievement held by the American Abhimanyu Mishra at 10 years, 9 months and days. But the dedication of Fausti It goes towards a single end goal: to be a great teacher. Mishra joined him at the record age of 12 years, 4 months and 25 days. From time to time, of course. Even if Faustino Oro has already defeated time so many times that…