The 2026 Aeroflot Open is underway in Moscow with 127 players from 38 countries competing in one of the strongest open tournaments on the European calendar. Ian Nepomniachtchi is the top seed and heavy favorite, playing the event in front of a home crowd where he has performed well throughout his career.
The Aeroflot has a unique role in the chess calendar. It is primarily an open tournament, but the prize fund and field strength attract elite grandmasters who would otherwise only appear at invitational events. Several top-100 players use it as preparation for the season ahead.
The headline story entering round one is 14-year-old Faustino Oro from Argentina. He needs one more Grandmaster norm and the required 2500 FIDE rating to earn the GM title. If he achieves both here, he will challenge Sergey Karjakin's record for the youngest GM in history, set in 2002 at 12 years and 7 months.
Oro's rating sits at 2498 entering the event. He needs strong results in almost every round. Top pairings are guaranteed given his seeding, so the norms are achievable. The question is whether a 14-year-old can handle that pressure across nine rounds.