Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman tragically passed away due to a heart attack while participating in the 12th round of the National Chess Championship in Dhaka on Friday evening. He was 50 years old.
During his match against GM Enamul Hossain Rajib at the Chess Federation hall, Ziaur collapsed suddenly around 6pm. He was rushed to Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital in Shahbag, where he was pronounced dead by doctors.
His wife Labanya was at the match venue when he fell ill. Their son Tahsin Tajwar Zia is also a participant in the national chess tournament.
Zia is the second Bangladeshi to achieve the title of grandmaster, after Niaz Morshed.
Ziaur Rahman achieved the title of Grandmaster from FIDE in 2002 and held the highest FIDE rating ever attained by a Bangladeshi chess player, reaching 2570 in October 2005. He completed his SSC from Government Laboratory High School and later graduated from the University of Dhaka. Rahman earned the International Master (IM) title in 1993 before becoming a Grandmaster.
In his career highlights, Rahman won the Mujib Borsho Invitational in Dhaka in 2021 with a score of 7.5/9. Known for his solid positional play, he also made history in 2022 by representing Bangladesh in the 44th Chess Olympiad alongside his son, Tahsin Tajwar Zia, marking the first father-son duo to compete together at this level.
