Indian Grandmaster S L Narayanan, has outsmarted a strong field comprising World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, to claim bronze in the prestigious Qatar Masters Open 2023.

The 25-year-old from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala was unbeaten in the nine-round event, finishing with 6.5 points behind the Uzeb duo Nodirbek Yakubboev and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who secured 7 points each.

Narayanan, who is a former World Junior bronze medallist, has ranked his performance in Qatar as one of his best. This "gives some confidence and most importantly I was able to showcase my strength in the form of a result," Narayanan told Onmanorama.

In his final round, Narayanan had a winning chance but settled for a draw with American Super GM Hikaru Nakamura, who was ranked no. 2 among 150 contestants.

Top-ranked Carlsen, finished with 6 points while Nakamura was placed fifth on 6.5 points.

A host of top Indian players, including D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin, Aravindh Chithambaram and Aryan Chopra among others competed in the event.
Narayanan defeated the 2758-rated Gukesh in round-five.

Narayanan, who is inching closer to the coveted 2700-Elo points mark, said he is "enjoying the process" right now. "I'm more focused on correcting the mistakes in my play and improving as a player," Narayanan said.

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