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Indian Express

Viswanathan Anand to take on ‘Messi of chess', 11-year-old Faustino Oro, on June 1

Over the course of his illustrious chess career, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand has dealt with challenges of all shapes and sizes. But even by those standards, he will confront a unique challenge on June 1: he will take on 11-year-old Faustino Oro, nicknamed the 'Messi of chess', in an exhibition game in Tuscany. The battle will see a clash of generations — Anand, who calls himself semi-retired, is 55 years old, while his opponent is yet to turn a teenager. The event's organisers have called it 'a meeting between the past and the future of chess'. Oro is one of the most promising stars on the circuit and is tipped for big things in the sport. Last year, Oro set a record by becoming the youngest-ever International Master in chess history. The Argentinian prodigy became one of only three players to achieve the title before turning 11. Currently rated 2454, the Argentine prodigy is chasing history: he wants to become the youngest-ever grandmaster. He's had a remarkably fast rise in the sport: he crossed the 2000-rating threshold for the first time only in May 2022, but in three years, he is already knocking on the doors of the 2500 rating club. The exhibition game is organised by Unichess and conceived by Grandmaster Roberto Mogranzini and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, who is also a chess lover. The exhibition game is part of the Pietrasanta and Versilia Chess Roads project, which will take place this June at Italy's La Versiliana. The event will see a unique exhibition from June 2 to 15 called Chess Roads, which will feature 40 rare and original chess sets from Asia and Europe. The exhibition event will see chess pieces in ivory, wood, and bronze, ranging from the late 1700s to the present. Organisers said that the match will 'shine an international spotlight on this corner of Tuscany'. The winner of this battle will then face twenty guests in a simultaneous (popularly known in chess circles as 'simuls') match. While the contest is an invitation-only event for a select international and Italian audience of chess lovers, will broadcast the match in three languages.