Not Gukesh, Anand! Meet the only Indian to beat Magnus Carlsen in classical with black in his 14 years as World No. 1

Magnus Carlsen and and Karthikeyan Murali (Screengrab)

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Poll Who do you think has the best chance of becoming the next World Chess Champion? Gukesh Dommaraju R Praggnandhaa Karthikeyan Murali Magnus Carlsen

Karthikeyan Murali (Special Arrangement)

“I just stood my ground. Magnus took some chances, and it backfired. It was a good moment for me.” Karthikeyan Murali

'Playing chess was accidental'

Karthikeyan Murali (Special Arrangement)

The memories are still raw. Norway Chess 2025. A lot had already been said, mostly surrounding the scepticism about how Gukesh Dommaraju was not quite living up to his world championship promise. Tensions boiled over. And it peaked during his match against World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen For the first time in his career, the 34-year-old Norwegian lost to the youngest-ever World Champion in the classical format. What followed was a burst of raw emotion: a loud bang on the table and a now-viral “oh my god!” that reverberated far beyond the chess hall.Magnus Carlsen would later remark, “On a normal day, of course, I win that game.” It is almost like Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim saying, “We proved today that we can win any game in the Premier League,” after a season-opening 1-0 defeat to Arsenal — confident in theory, but the scoreboard tells a different story.History, as they say, cannot be rewritten, neither in chess nor in football.But there’s a twist, though. Gukesh’s win was with the white pieces, and so was R Praggnandhaa’s 2024 victory over Carlsen at Norway Chess.But the real story is even more remarkable, and far less talked about.In the last 14 years, only one Indian has beaten Magnus Carlsen with the black pieces since he regained the World No. 1 spot from Viswanathan Anand in 2011.And it wasn’t Gukesh, Pragg, or even Anand. It was Karthikeyan Murali, a Thanjavur-born Indian Grandmaster.In 2023, at the Qatar Masters, Karthikeyan made history, becoming only the third Indian to defeat Magnus Carlsen in classical chess after Pentala Harikrishna in 2005 and Anand multiple times, but he was the first to do it with the black pieces in Carlsen’s 14-year reign as World No. 1.“It was a great feeling to beat the World No. 1 with black pieces,” he tells TimesofIndia.com.Even with victory in hand, the nerves were real as he admits: “Of course, there was some kind of intimidation. He’s the world number one. I was nervous and excited. But I noticed some weaknesses in him, what I was targeting, and it paid off. I have huge respect for him. He’s one of my role models and biggest inspirations. Even with advancing computer technologies, he still beats everyone. That’s something to learn from. ”Why is winning with black so special? In chess, white always moves first, giving an advantage in setting the pace. Winning with black takes careful planning, strong nerves, and smart tactics, making the win much sweeter for the black.26-year-old Karthikeyan Murali has quietly carved out an impressive chess career, one milestone at a time.Picked up the game at 10, the two-time national champion started competing professionally at 12, and over the years, built a resume few can rival. But his entry into chess wasn’t a grand plan.“It was accidental,” he recollects. “My dad had a surgery, and he was on bed rest for 15 days. During that time, he played games like checkers, chess, carrom… and I got more interested in chess than other games. That’s how it started. Then I joined an academy, and it went on like that.”As Indian chess continues to produce stars like Gukesh and Pragg, Murali’s feat stands apart. Beating Magnus Carlsen with black in classical chess is a rare mark of mastery, one few achieve and even fewer sustain.The boy from Thanjavur, who stumbled into chess by accident, recently finished joint-second at the Chennai Grand Masters Challengers section. But his eyes shine brightest when the conversation turns to that one night in Qatar. As Murali himself says, "That was something very special for me."

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