FIDE is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of GM Ziaur Rahman after suffering a stroke while competing against fellow grandmaster Enamul Hossain Rajib in the 12th round of the National Chess Championship in Dhaka on July 05, 2024. He was 50.

According to local media, at one stage, he fell to the ground at around 6 PM. Fellow chess players and officials then rushed Ziaur Rahman to the Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital in Shahbag, where the doctors soon declared him dead.

Bangladesh’s most decorated chess player left behind his wife and a son.

Graduated from the University of Dhaka, he earned the International Master (IM) title in 1993 and the GM title in 2002. Ziaur Rahman held the highest FIDE rating ever achieved by a Bangladeshi chess player (2,570 in October 2005).

In 2021, he won the Mujib Borsho Invitational at Dhaka, scoring 7.5/9. Later that year he took part in the FIDE World Cup.

In 2022, the 15-time national champion Ziaur Rahman made history by representing Bangladesh in the 44th Chess Olympiad with his son, Tahsin Tajwar Zia. They were the first father-son duo to be on a national chess team.

FIDE extends its sincere condolences to Ziaur Rahman’s family, friends, and loved ones.

Photo: FIDE/Madelene Belinki