Karthikeyan Murali

{{Infobox chess player

|name = Karthikeyan Murali

|image = MuraliKarthikeyan23.jpg

|caption = Karthikeyan in 2023

|country = India

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1999|1|5|df=y}}

|birth_place = Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India

|title = Grandmaster (2015)

|peakrating = 2651 (January 2025)

|peakranking = No. 76 (April 2025)

|FideID = 5074452

}}

Karthikeyan Murali (born 5 January 1999) is an Indian chess grandmaster. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2015. Karthikeyan is a two-time national champion.

Chess career

Born in Thanjavur,[http://ratings.fide.com/title_applications.phtml?details=1&id=5074452&title=GM&pb=42 GM title application] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241130165605/http://ratings.fide.com/title_applications.phtml?details=1&id=5074452&title=GM&pb=42 |date=30 November 2024 }}. FIDE. Karthikeyan learnt chess at the age of five. In December 2011, he won the Under 12 section of the World Youth Chess Championships held in Caldas Novas, Brazil.{{cite web|url=http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7752 |title=Chess News - Karthikayan Murali – World U12 champion – In his own words |publisher=ChessBase|date=2011-12-12|accessdate=2013-01-11}}[http://www.thesundayindian.com/en/story/chennai-boy-wins-world-under-12-chess-championship/254/26564/ "Chennai boy wins world under-12 chess championship"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804164824/http://www.thesundayindian.com/en/story/chennai-boy-wins-world-under-12-chess-championship/254/26564/ |date=4 August 2019 }}. The Sunday Indian.[http://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/article2671717.ece "A hero's welcome for Karthikeyan"]. The Hindu. Two years later he also won the world U16 title in Al Ain.{{Cite web|url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/world-youth-championship-the-champions/3|title=World Youth Championship: The champions|last=Silver|first=Albert|date=2013-12-31|website=Chess News|publisher=ChessBase|access-date=2019-06-11}}

In 2014 he tied for third place at the Abu Dhabi Masters tournament{{cite web|title=Yuriy Kuzubov wins Abu Dhabi Masters on tie-break|url=http://www.chessdom.com/yuriy-kuzubov-wins-abu-dhabi-masters-on-tie-break-video/|publisher=Chessdom|accessdate=10 October 2015|date=2014-08-28}} and helped the Indian team win the Under 16 Chess Olympiad in Győr, Hungary.{{cite web|url=http://en.chessbase.com/post/india-wins-u16-olympiad-in-gyor|title=India wins U16 Olympiad in Gyor|publisher=ChessBase|author=Mihail Marin|date=23 December 2014|accessdate=15 August 2015}} In this latter competition he also completed all requirements for the title Grandmaster.{{Cite web|url=http://aicf.in/karthikeyan-murali-becomes-grand-master/|title=Karthikeyan Murali Becomes Grand Master|author=Arvind Aaron|date=2014-12-19|website=All India Chess Federation|access-date=2019-06-11}}

In 2015, Karthikeyan won the 53rd National Premier Chess Championship of India in Tiruvarur edging out Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, whom he defeated in the direct encounter, on tiebreak, after both scored 8½ points from 13 games.{{cite web|title=Karthikeyan Murali winner of the 2015 India Premier Championship|url=http://www.chessdom.com/karthikeyan-murali-winner-of-the-2015-india-premier-championship/|publisher=Chessdom|accessdate=7 January 2016|date=2015-11-29}}{{cite web|author=Priyadarshan Banjan|title=Men's Premier 13: Murali Karthikeyan!|url=http://chessbase.in/news/mens-premier-13/|publisher=ChessBase India|accessdate=7 January 2016|date=2015-11-29}} Karthikeyan also won the 54th edition of the championship held in Lucknow in 2016. Though he had a slow start, and lost the match against eventual runner-up Aravindh Chithambaram, 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.{{cite web|author=Priyadarshan Banjan|title=National Premier 2016: Karthikeyan is National Champion again!|url=http://chessbase.in/news/karthikeyan-is-national-champion-again/|publisher=ChessBase India|accessdate=17 February 2016|date=2016-11-30}}

In January 2019, Karthikeyan placed second in the Gibraltar Masters open tournament{{Cite web|url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/gibraltar-2019-round-10|title=Artemiev atop Gibraltar Masters|last=Peterson|first=Macauley|date=2019-02-01|website=Chess News|publisher=ChessBase|access-date=2019-06-11}} among a field of over 250 players.{{cite web|title=Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019 - Masters|url=http://chess-results.com/tnr377792.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=10|website=chess-results.com}} In June 2019, he placed second in the Asian championships,{{Cite web|url=https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/asian-continental-chess-championship-2019|title=Asian Championship 2019}} aided by a win with black against Alireza Firouzja in which Karthikeyan sacrificed his queen on move 9.{{cite AV media |url-status = live |archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/H1tPZk6r_1U |archive-date = 2021-12-11| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1tPZk6r_1U |title = Greatest Queen Sacrifice Repeated in 2019!!! {{!}}{{!}} Nezhmetdinov Would Be Proud |website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} in 2023 Karthikeyan Murali became the only third Indian to beat Magnus Carlsen in classical chess.{{cite web | url=https://www.news18.com/sports/karthikeyan-murali-becomes-3rd-indian-to-beat-magnus-carlsen-in-classical-chess-8624700.html | title=Karthikeyan Murali Becomes 3rd Indian to Beat Magnus Carlsen in Classical Chess | date=19 October 2023 }}

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 (IOC) since October 2017.

References

External links

{{Official website|http://karthikeyanmurali.com/}}
{{FIDE|name=}}
{{Chessgames player|131321}}
{{365Chess.com player|Murali_Karthikeyan|Karthikeyan Murali}}

Category:1999 births

Category:Living people

Category:Chess Grandmasters

Category:Indian chess players

Category:World Youth Chess Champions

Category:People from Thanjavur