Karthikeyan Murali Beats World No.1 Magnus Carlsen In Classical Chess

Indian Chess Grand Master Karthikeyan Murali has defeated Magnus Carlsen in classical chess. Carlsen was the world’s number one Chess player. But now Karthikeyan Murali defeated him.

Karthikeyan’s win came in the seventh round of the Qatar Masters. He used black pieces to beat Carlsen. Now, he’s got 5.5 points out of 7 in the tourney. 

Classical chess is the longest and most traditional form of chess. Each player has 90 minutes to make their first 40 moves, and then 30 minutes for the rest of the game. And, Qatar Masters is a chess tournament held every year in Qatar. It is one of the strongest tournaments in the world.

Karthikeyan is only the third Indian to beat Carlsen in this format. Before him, only Harikrishna and Viswanathan Anand did it. Anand, as you know, is a chess legend in India. Karthikeyan joins some elite company here!

He’s from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu and has been India’s national champ in 2015 and 2016. His strategy against Carlsen was to “complicate matters,” he said. Looks like it worked!

Carlsen’s not having the best time, as this was his second loss in the Qatar Masters. His first loss was to Alisher Suleymenov.

Global chess stars are praising Karthikeyan. Hikaru Nakamura from Japan said, “This is the future for him.”

Also Read: Grand Masters From Across The Globe

Karthikeyan Murali was born on January 5, 1999, in Thanjavur, India. He learned chess at the age of five and quickly rose through the ranks.

In 2011, he won the Under-12 World Youth Chess Championships. Two years later, he won the Under-16 World Youth Chess Championships. He also helped the Indian team win the Under-16 Chess Olympiad in 2014.

In 2015, Karthikeyan was awarded the Grandmaster title by FIDE. He has since won many tournaments, including the National Championship of India twice.

Karthikeyan is a well-known chess solver and his battle against Alireza Firouzja from the Asian Championships 2019 is deemed as one of the greatest queen sacrifices in the history of the game.

It’s a big moment for Indian chess. Other Indian players are also doing well. SL Narayan and Arjun Erigaisi also have 5.5 points in the same tournament. 

For Indian chess fans and players, this is a moment to celebrate. Karthikeyan’s win shows that the next-gen of Indian chess is ready to take on the world!