He showed all his talent and played on a par with the best in the world.

Applause and more applause for Faustino Oro. At just 12 years and two and a half months old, the international champion has just achieved his Grandmaster’s second rule He played as such and signed in Qatar a stunning performance in the World Chess Championship at a fast pace, with 15 minutes per player plus 10 seconds per move.

The defeat in the final round in no way overshadows the level of the boy who has learned to move the pieces during the pandemic and is already a Rock star known to the world elite. The same one who played this World Cup. He met the same thing in Doha, where Five of his 13 games were played against top 20 teamswith three tables and two lintels.

Fausti finished with 7 points thanks to four wins, six draws and three losses. With a performance of 2629 and an increase of 23.5 Elo points, he took 77th place in the ranking out of 247 participants. This Monday and Tuesday the World Cup will be played at pace flash.

Magnus Carlsen confirmed that he is number one, although he is not a world champion by his own decision. The Norwegian grandmaster took home the winner’s €70,000 for winning the World Rapid Chess Championship for the sixth time in thirteen issues. This was already the case in 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022 and 2023. In Qatar he won with 10.5 points on 13 wheels.

He never has peace Fausti And he knew it even before going to bed in Doha: in the tenth round the Belgian grandmaster would play against White Daniel Dharda20 years old, grandmaster since 15th and 155th in the world. At table 47, a Sicilian defense with long castlings emerged and, as had been the case throughout the tournament, the Argentine had little time left. So From the 40th move he was playing with less than 30 seconds on the clock and in the 42nd round he chose to reach an endgame with one rook per side and one pawn down Fausti.

On move 51, Dharda was left with a rook and two pawns on ranks “a” and “b” and Oro with a rook and a pawn on rank “a”. A theoretically indecisive ending, but The Belgian tried to beat Faustino until move 126who didn’t give up in his defense until he started. It was the third longest game of the round.

The 11th round came and the Argentine faced the Indian grandmaster in black Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan (2582), 27 years old. For Faustino, it was one of the two games with the least action on the board in the tournament, with no complications but with less time on the clock. And unlike the previous one, There was a draw in 36 moves for the Golden Queen’s eternal check was imminent. Six points in 11 rounds for Faustino.

White pieces again. Once again a great Indian master: this time the experienced one Pentala Harikrishna39 years old, 35th in the world in classical tempo chess and 71st in fast tempo with 2623 ELO. He was and is tenth in the world in November 2016 Great 50 on the planet since September 2013. Pure validity. He was also U20 youth world champion in 2004 played seven Olympic Gamesthe first at the age of 14 in Istanbul 2000, until India’s golden generation ousted him and everything led to the title in Budapest 2024.

Faustino destroyed this beast on the board in the penultimate roundin which a Ruy López Apertura was played and in which the Argentine surprised with 8.c4. The game began with an extra pawn for the prodigy. The Indian tried to activate the pieces, but the order was not correct and Faustino gained another pawn and consolidated his winning position.

Of course he had a great master in front of him and had to work for victory. AND Fausti He managed this flawlessly until a checkers final where he avoided perpetual check and secured victory by scoring 7 points in 12 rounds. It was his most spectacular victory in the World Cup.

And then came the final round. The result of climbing like crazy or simply falling off the cliff. Faustino repeated white and it was the Hungarian grandmaster’s turn Adam Kozak (2593). Are you content with the tables? What’s up? The golden child always plays to win. And the game was a hell of calculations, so much so that the pieces were only eaten up on the 29th move.

When both had a minute left on the clock, the position began to disintegrate and Faustino got worse as time went on. Lost. But then the Hungarian couldn’t find the winning line and the Argentine prodigy had the tie in his hands, in constant check with the queen. But time was against him and he lost in 62 moves.

Candela Francisco Guecamburu (2175) was also above expectations in the Women’s World Cup at a rapid pace. The 19-year-old, 2023 Junior World Champion and ranked 86th, added two wins in the final rounds this Sunday and finished with 6.5 points in 11 wheelsranked 41st out of 141 chess players, with a performance of 2293 and a gain of 36 ELO points. A well-rounded business wherever it is analyzed.

The fact that only the Chinese were there shows that the tournament was more than good for the grandmaster Yining Chen (2143), 16 years old, was 7 points above her, with a lower ranking. Another Asian power prodigy who narrowly lost to two great teachers.

Candela started the final day with a narrow defeat against the Polish international Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (2293), born in Russia, in just 22 moves.

In the penultimate round, Argentina managed a good win against Azerbaijan MI Gulnar Mammadova (2293) When, with a rook and a knight on each side, but an extra pawn for Candela, the rival made a mistake and allowed a won endgame with a rook and two pawns united against the black rook alone. On move 66 everything was resolved.

And in the last game Candela was black against the Kazakh grandmaster Alua Nurman (2289) and did not allow himself to be intimidated. He gained a positional advantage in the middlegame and refined himself until he won a rook ending and two pawns against a rook in 53 moves.

Francisco Guecamburu traveled with his mother, thanks to the support of the Emova company and the municipality of Pilar, and has just participated for the first time in the Absolute Argentine Championship against 11 men. She finished the World Cup with six wins, four of them against higher-ranked players, including the first against the Dutch IM Eline Roebers (2392), 217 more ELO points.

Three players added 8.5 units in 11 rounds, but the tournament was defined in a hand between two of them, as this was provided for by the regulations of the tiebreaker system. And in this grandmaster duel the Russian won 1.5 to 0.5 Aleksandra Goryachkina (2505), fourth in the world at this pace, against China Zhu Jiner (2435).