Frederik Svane wins Sardinia Chess Festival, Faustino Oro secures GM title

Svane wins tournament outright

The Sardinia World Chess Festival 2026 took place from 3 to 10 May in Orosei, Sardinia, with the main section played at Club Hotel Marina Beach. The event was a nine-round Swiss tournament, with a classical time control of 90 minutes for the whole game and a 30-second increment from move one. Ten players rated 2600 or above took part, including two rated over 2700, with Ian Nepomniachtchi, Parham Maghsoodloo, Ivan Saric, Karthikeyan Murali and Frederik Svane the top seeds in the field.

Frederik Svane emerged as the outright winner. The 22-year-old German grandmaster scored a remarkable 7½/9 and finished with a 2748 tournament performance rating. His victory was achieved thanks to a crucial result in the final round, when he defeated Karthikeyan Murali with the white pieces after the two players had entered round nine tied for first place on 6½/8. The win left Svane half a point clear of the rest of the field.

Three players shared second place on 7/9: Haik Martirosyan, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Mamikhon Gharibyan. Gharibyan’s result was particularly notable, as he had entered the tournament as the 29^th seed and obtained back-to-back upset wins over Leon Luke Mendonca and Abhimanyu Puranik in the final two rounds. Nepomniachtchi, the top seed and a former World Championship challenger, also finished in the chasing group after beating Faustino Oro in the last round.

Haik Martirosyan | Photo: KNZO Photography

Ian Nepomniachtchi | Photo: KNZO Photography

You will learn how Black’s dynamic piece activity and structural counterplay more than compensate for White’s extra tempo in the colour-reversed setups.
The Benoni family of openings has toppled world champions, decided match games under the highest pressure, and rewarded those brave enough to play them with some of the most electrifying chess imaginable. In this Fritztrainer, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov –  continuing his successful series “Understanding Middlegame Structures” – takes you deep inside the complexities of the Colour-Reversed Benoni, the Colour-Reversed Benko Gambit, and the Colour-Reversed Blumenfeld Gambit.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Colour Reversed Banoni – Game 1

Frederik Svane | Photo: KNZO Photography

Oro becomes second-youngest GM ever

Oro’s result was the other central storyline of the tournament. The 12-year-old Argentine, who entered as the 23^rd seed with a 2528 rating, scored 6/9 and finished 16^th, with a 2594 tournament performance rating. The score was enough for his third and final grandmaster norm, and since he had already crossed the 2500 rating mark, it secured the title.

The norm was effectively secured before the final game was played. Oro had reached 6/8 after grabbing key victories with the black pieces over Guido Caprio and Bartlomiej Niedbala in rounds six and eight, and was then paired with Nepomniachtchi in the final round. Because of the Russian grandmaster’s high rating, Oro only needed to appear for the game to complete the norm requirement. Nepomniachtchi won their 55-move encounter from a Nimzo-Indian Defence, but the result did not affect Oro’s title qualification.

In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
The London System is one of the most popular openings at every level of chess but not all Londons are the same. In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: 5…cxd4 6.exd4 Qb6 sidelines

With the result, Oro became the second-youngest grandmaster in chess history. He surpassed the marks set by Sergey Karjakin and Gukesh Dommaraju by a small margin, though Abhimanyu Mishra’s record remains intact. The Argentine had earned his first grandmaster norm and crossed 2500 at the Legends & Prodigies tournament in Madrid last year, before adding his second norm at the Szmetan-Girardelli Masters in Buenos Aires in December.

Youngest GMs in history

Faustino Oro | Photo: KNZO Photography

Interview produced by the ChessBase India team

In this video course, kings will play a role of strong and active pieces. We will explore how Kings can be helpful in defence and prophylaxis, or even in attack!

Faustino Oro’s games in Sardinia

Final standings

…160 players

All games

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