Karthikeyan Murali


Karthikeyan Murali is an Indian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2015. Karthikeyan is a two-time national champion.

Chess career

Born in Thanjavur, Karthikeyan learnt chess at the age of five years. In December 2011, he won the Under 12 section of the World Youth Chess Championships held in Caldas Novas, Brazil. Two years later he also won the world U16 title in Al Ain.
In 2014 he tied for third place at the Abu Dhabi Masters tournament and helped the Indian team to win the Under 16 Chess Olympiad in Győr, 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 edging out Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, 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 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.
In January 2019, Karthikeyan placed second in the Gibraltar Masters 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 Firouja in which Karthikeyan sacrificed his queen on move 9.

Personal life

He is employed in ONGC.