Not coming from a family of chess players, Francesco started playing competitive chess at age 8 in France, with the Grenoble Chess Club, “Échiquier Grenoblois”. Francesco was both Champion of France and Champion of Italy in the U10 category in 2009, and went on to be Champion of Italy in the U12 and U14 categories, winning the title each year that he played the Italian Youth Championships. Francesco gained his FM title in the 2009 European Chess Championship, arriving 1st ex-aequo (3rd on tie-break) in the U10 category.
In November 2014, Francesco completed his IM norms and gained his first GM norm playing in Bad Wiessee, Germany. In august 2015, at age 16, Francesco completed his GM norms and achieved the title of International Grand Master, winning the 2015 Wien International Chess Open in Austria.
In November 2015, Francesco finished 1st ex aequo (4th in the tie-break) in the 2015 UTD Fall FIDE Open and in March 2016 he finished 7th in the 2016 Reykjavik Chess Open. He is currently Blitz and Rapid Chess champion of Italy.