Karthikeyan Murali (born 5 January 1999) is an Indian

chess grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the t ...

. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

in 2015. Karthikeyan is a two-time national champion.

Chess career

Born in

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...

, Karthikeyan learnt chess at the age of five. In December 2011, he won the Under 12 section of the

World Youth Chess Championship The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. History Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015 (OR 2016), the event has been s ...

s held in

Caldas Novas Caldas Novas () is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Goiás. It is the largest hydro-thermal resort in the world. Location Caldas Novas is located 170 km south of state capital, Goiânia. It belongs to the Meia Ponte Microregion, ...

, Brazil. Two years later he also won the world U16 title in

Al Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is Oman–United Arab Emirates border, bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al A ...

. In 2014 he tied for third place at the

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

Masters tournament and helped the Indian team win the Under 16 Chess Olympiad in

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

, Hungary. In this latter competition he also completed all requirements for the title Grandmaster. In 2015, Karthikeyan won the 53rd National Premier Chess Championship of India in

Tiruvarur Thiruvarur () also spelt as Tiruvarur is a municipality in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Thiruvarur district and Thiruvarur taluk. The temple chariot of the Thyagaraja temple, weighing and measuring ...

edging out

Vidit Santosh Gujrathi Vidit Gujrathi (born 24 October 1994) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Gujrathi attained the title of grandmaster in January 2013, becoming the 30th player from India to do so. He is the fourth Indian player to have crossed the Elo rating of 270 ...

, whom he defeated in the direct encounter, on tiebreak, after both scored 8½ points from 13 games. Karthikeyan also won the 54th edition of the championship held in

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

in 2016. Though he had a slow start, and lost the match against eventual runner-up

Aravindh Chithambaram Aravindh Chithambaram Veerappan (born 11 September 1999) is an Indian chess grandmaster. He won the Indian chess championships twice, in 2018 and 2019. Personal life Aravindh Chithambaram Veerappan was born on 11 September 1999 in Thirunaga ...

, a crucial win against top seed Vidit Santosh Gujrathi on time control, followed by double withdrawals helped in gaining the lead and ultimately winning the championships. In January 2019, Karthikeyan placed second in the

Gibraltar Masters The Gibraltar International Chess Festival was a chess tournament held annually at the Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar. Its eleven days of competition usually run from late January to early February. The inaugural edition, then known as the '' Gibtel ...

open tournament among a field of over 250 players. In June 2019, he placed second in the Asian championships, aided by a win with black against Alireza Firouzja in which Karthikeyan sacrificed his queen on move 9. in 2023 Karthikeyan Murali became the only third Indian to beat

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...

in classical chess.

Personal life

He was inducted in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for scholarship from 2014 to 2016. Later, he got employed in

Indian Oil Corporation Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL or IOC), trading as IndianOil, is an Indian multinational oil and gas company under the ownership of the Government of India and administrative control of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. It is ...

(IOC) since October 2017.

References

External links

* * * * 1999 births Living people Chess Grandmasters Indian chess players World Youth Chess Champions People from Thanjavur {{India-chess-bio-stub