Qatar Masters 2023; Karthikeyan Murali shocked the defending world champion Magnus Carlsen in the pivotal seventh round

Yesterday in the Qatar Masters Open, Karthikeyan Murali of India shocked the defending world champion Magnus Carlsen in the pivotal seventh round at Lusail Multipurpose Hall. It was the Norwegian's second loss in the competition, having lost to Kazakhstan's Alisher Suleymenov in the second round. With two rounds left in the renowned competition, Carlsen dropped to 26th place in the overall standings with just 4.5 points.

Playing a picture-perfect game, the twenty-four-year-old Murali, who was ranked twenty in the competition, used the black pieces to seal the historic victory. The Grandmaster from Thanjavur took the lead with 5.5 points when Carlsen made an error. He seized the edge and converted the endgame with ease.Alongside the Indian three were their fellow countrymen SL Narayanan and Arjun Erigaisi, as well as David Paravyan, a neutral player, and Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Yakubboev from Uzbekistan.