Karthikeyan Murali is an Indian chess grandmaster. He was born on January 5, 2000, in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. Murali won the U-12 World Cadets Chess Championship in 2011 and won the National Premier Chess Championship of India in 2015 at the age of 15, becoming the youngest to win it. He was then awarded the title of the grandmaster by FIDE in 2015. He has also won the Chennai Grandmaster Open in 2018 and the 24th Abu Dhabi Masters tournament.
As an international master in 2014, Murali gained his first grandmaster norm after tying for first at the IIFL Wealth Mumbai Open. He scored his second grandmaster norm in the 2015 Chennai Grandmaster tournament, and his third in the 2015 Abu Dhabi Masters tournament, thus achieving his grandmaster title.
In 2019, Murali represented India in the World Team Chess Championship and won the individual gold medal on board five. Despite his many accomplishments, he maintains a low profile and is often said to be a 'silent performer.'