Faustino Oro fell just short. The 14-year-old Argentine finished the Aeroflot Open one norm short of his third GM norm, meaning Sergey Karjakin's record as the youngest GM in history remains intact for now.
Oro won five games and drew twice in his first seven rounds. That was extraordinary chess at any age. But he lost a critical game in round seven against a 2580-rated GM and could not recover in the final two rounds. He finished on 6/9, enough for a strong performance rating but not the norm.
His rating did cross 2500 for the first time. He is effectively a 2500-plus player. The GM title requires three norms and a 2500 rating. He has two norms. One more strong tournament result at this level completes it.
"I played well," Oro told journalists after the final round. "Today was not my day. I will come back." His composure was impressive. He is still 14. Karjakin set his record at 12 years and 7 months. Oro has several more months to match it, depending on his tournament schedule. The record is theoretically still within reach.