Fiorito Wins Andorra Open at Just 15

Chess has no shortage of teenage prodigies these days, but Argentina in particular seems to be producing them at an unusual rate. The latest to make headlines is Francisco Fiorito, a 15-year-old international master who claimed the 42nd Andorra Open with a final-round win that sealed the title outright, half a point ahead of the rest of the field.

A Rocky Start, a Strong Finish

Fiorito’s tournament wasn’t a clean sweep from start to finish. He suffered his only loss of the event in round four, a result that could easily have knocked the wind out of a less composed player. Instead, he responded by winning four of his remaining five games, including notable victories over grandmasters Egor Bogdanov and Andrey Sumets — the latter coming in the final round itself, the exact result that clinched the title.

He entered the tournament seeded 16th, with a rating of 2452, in a 208-player field that included 13 grandmasters and 24 international masters. Finishing on 7½ points from 9 rounds, comfortably clear of a chasing pack, is the kind of result that goes well beyond what his seeding would have predicted.

Who Else Finished Near the Top

Second place went to top seed Miguel Santos of Spain on tiebreaks, after the two had been level entering the final round — Fiorito won his game while Santos settled for a draw, and that was enough to decide the title. Russian grandmaster Aleksandr Shimanov also finished on the same score as Santos, rounding out a tightly bunched group just behind the champion.

There was a standout story further down the standings too. Lile Koridze, a Georgian woman grandmaster who entered as the tournament’s 79th seed, scored an excellent 7/9 to pick up an IM norm of her own — a reminder that in a field this size, breakout performances aren’t confined to the top of the crosstable.

A Family Affair

Fiorito’s win adds another chapter to what’s becoming a genuine family chess story. His older brother, Joaquín, is 19 and also a titled player, while their father Fabián is a former Argentine champion himself. The family has been based in Spain since late 2023, a relocation that has clearly put both brothers directly in the mix of Europe’s dense open-tournament circuit rather than having to travel for every event.

A Notable Setting, With FIDE’s President in Attendance

This year’s Andorra Open was itself a record-breaking edition, drawing entries from 33 federations, and it coincided with a visit from FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, who made his first trip to the Principality to mark International Chess Day during the tournament. Dvorkovich met with Andorra’s Minister of Culture and Sports and spoke about the country’s chess programs in schools, part of a broader conversation about FIDE’s plans for the sport heading into the federation’s presidential election later this year. The tournament ran from July 18-26 at the Hotel Panorama in Escaldes-Engordany, with a total prize fund of €12,000.

Why It’s Worth Paying Attention

Results like this tend to blur together in a sport that produces so many talented juniors, but Fiorito’s win stands out for how he got there — not by cruising through a weak field, but by absorbing an early setback and grinding his way back to the top against a genuinely strong 200-plus player open. Combined with his brother’s own results and their father’s own championship pedigree, it’s hard not to see this as a family that’s building something more than a one-off headline.