Jorge Cori, Faustino Oro shine at the 67 hours of crazy chess marathon in Lima, Peru

Jorge Cori conquers the WR Chess Marathon, 12-year-old Faustino Oro impresses

South America had always been a continent I have wanted to visit. And thanks to the 67 hour world record marathon event organized by WR Chess I got a chance to travel to the continent. I travelled to Lima, Peru together with my better half Amruta and my team member Abhyudaya, to cover one of the most unusual chess events. The WR Chess Marathon, a world-record attempt of 67 continuous hours of chess consisted of 67 hours of chess in 3 days! Absolutely insane. Before I tell you what happened over those days, I want to share why Peru is not just another dot on the map for me.

My gateway to Peru

My acquaintance with Peruvian chess came through the Cori siblings. I believe Jorge Cori came to India during the World Juniors in 2014, and ever since, the surname "Cori" has been my window into Peru as a chess nation.

Deysi Cori, Jorge's sister, is the current Peru no.1 in women's chess. She remains a very memorable opponent in my chess career as it was after playing her in 2014 that I reached 2400 on the live ratings and actually became an IM. She had also beaten me in 2017 when we played in Jakarta, Indonesia.

From Angela (who comes from Colombia) I have known that South Americans can be very kind. Angela is a connection between South America and India! So when I landed in Lima, it did not feel like arriving in a strange land. It felt like I was going to meet people whom I already knew!

What is the WR Chess Marathon?

Held at the Sheraton Lima Historic Center from 25 to 28 June 2026, the marathon was a punishing, beautiful test of endurance - for players, arbiters and organizers alike. The programme was split into two halves:

• Exhibition events (A to C): the headline Match Oro vs. Martínez, the "Master Class Handicap Blitz – Beat the Grandmaster" (5 minutes vs. 1 minute), and a rolling series of grandmaster and world-class simuls that ran deep into the night - one session finishing at 12 a.m, the next beginning at 8:30 a.m.

• Main tournaments (D to K): three Bughouse team events, three Blitz tournaments and two Rapid tournaments, all feeding into an overall Grand Prix.

  

  Juice and biscuits were placed for all the players | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram

  

  Along with tea and coffee! | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram

The single most striking decision by the organizers was this: there was no entry fee at all. It was an incredibly generous gesture. This helped to promote the event and bring so many people to play from not just Peru, but all across South America. On the flip side - with nothing at stake to register, many players who had signed up simply didn't turn up, which meant the arbiters had to constantly rework pairings and keep the machine running against a moving target.

None of this would have happened without the funds provided by Wadim Rosenstein and WR Chess. Enormous effort came from tournament director GM Sebastian Siebrecht, and Martha Fierro played a key role in holding everything together.

Jorge Cori wins the Grand Prix

The man of the marathon was Jorge Cori. The Peruvian GM won the overall Grand Prix, taking the top prize of 7,000 USD and finishing as the event's highest earner with a total of 16,000 USD across all the tournaments and the Grand Prix combined. For a home hero, in front of a home crowd, over 67 hours of chess - it doesn't get much sweeter than that.

Jorge Cori is no longer a professional player. He now runs an online chess academy and lives with his wife and cats in Mexico. Here are some wonderful pictures that Jorge shared with us:

Behind Cori in the Grand Prix, Daniel Yeager (USA) and Eilia Zomorrodian (CAN) shared the next two places, each collecting 4000 USD each. They earned their points by top finish in two bughouse events.

Here are all the prize winners along with the amounts that they won in this event:

The 12-year-old who stole the show: Faustino Oro

If Jorge was the marathon's champion, Faustino Oro was its phenomenon. Just 12 years old, the Argentine sensation was electric all weekend. He won both Rapid tournaments, and in both of them he finished on 8.0/9, edging GM Cristóbal Henríquez Villagra of Chile on tiebreak in a field that included Jorge Cori himself (8th) and a host of grandmasters.

On top of that, Faustino came out on top in the exhibition Match Oro vs. Martínez against GM José Eduardo Martínez Alcántara, taking the 6,000 USD winner's share. Watching a boy this young handle this kind of pressure - and this many games - was one of the highlights of the trip.

Here are two of Faustino's best games. Check out the analysis in the video below.

The Bughouse heroes: Yeager and Plotkin

Bughouse - that chaotic, joyful, four-board team format - produced two standout stories that I made sure to cover. Daniel Yeager and his partner Eilia Zomorrodian were untouchable in the early stages, winning both Bughouse #1 and Bughouse #2 with his partner. Then Mark Plotkin, the Canadian IM, closed the loop by winning the final Bughouse event alongside his partner Tobias Rizzo. Between them, they owned the bughouse boards from start to finish.

A word for the people who made it run

A marathon like this is measured not only in what happens on the boards. I want to recognize Chief Arbiter Gerhard Bertagnolli, who gave everything to keep the schedule flowing on time across three days and nights. The local arbiters' team worked tirelessly too, often under difficult, unpredictable conditions. 67 hours of chess is exhausting for everyone - the players, the arbiters, the officials. That the event ran as smoothly as it did is a tribute to all of them.

Some amazing shots

Personal note:

Although I played decent chess in the two rapid events that I played, I just couldn't handle my nerves under time pressure. I had quite dismal results, losing around 50 Elo points in both the events, pushing my rapid rating below 2200!

Replay Sagar's 18 games here

Playing these 18 games ignited within me the search for deeper understanding for chess. The videos I made after it or the interviews I did, I enjoyed them a lot more. I feel playing chess keeps one sharp. Whether you are a journalist, coach or associated with chess in some way - it is a very good idea to play tournaments from time to time! I will next play at the Naroditsky Memorial and I hope this practice will come in handy!

Final note:

Peru welcomed us with open arms, and I leave the country with a deeper appreciation for a chess nation I had only ever known through two siblings and one dear friend. The WR Chess Marathon was a record of hours - but for me, it was really a record of the people who filled them.

Important Links:

Official website

Chess-results

WR Chess 2026 videos

Photos from WR Chess 2026 Marathon