India, Jan. 26 — 19-year-old Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh was stunned at the ongoing Tata Chess Masters as she suffered an unexpected defeat against Argentina’s chess prodigy, Faustino Oro. Oro, just 11 years old, made headlines in June 2024 when he became the youngest-ever International Master, earning the title at just 10 years, eight months, and 16 days, surpassing Abhimanyu Mishra’s record. However, Oro's record was recently broken by Roman Shogdzhiev in January 2025.

Indian Grandmasters D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa were also in action at the venue during Deshmukh’s match. Both were spotted pausing to watch in amazement as Oro secured his victory over Deshmukh.

Oro gained international fame in May 2024 after he defeated World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen during a weekly Bullet Brawl tournament hosted by Chess.com. He reached a 2300 rating in the classical format in 2023, making him the youngest player to achieve this milestone at the time. That record was later surpassed by Ethan Pant in November 2024.

Oro is often referred to as the "Messi of chess" due to his remarkable talent, young age, and similar stature to the Argentine football legend, who also rose to prominence at a young age in Barcelona. They share the same nationality.

Meanwhile, Divya Deshmukh is a decorated player, having won three gold medals at the Chess Olympiad and multiple golds at the Asian Championship, World Junior Championship, and World Youth Championship. She claimed the 2022 Women’s Indian Chess Championship title and earned an individual bronze at the 2022 Chess Olympiad. Deshmukh was also part of the team that won gold at the 2020 FIDE Online Chess Olympiad and currently ranks as the second-best woman chess player in India.

In the 2023 Tata Steel India Chess Tournament, Deshmukh triumphed in the women’s rapid section, despite being the bottom seed. She defeated notable players such as Koneru Humpy, Irina Krush, Nino Batsiashvili, Harika Dronavalli, Vantika Agrawal, and Savitha Shri B, while drawing against Ju Wenjun and Anna Ushenina and losing to Polina Shuvalova.

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