Chess Grandmaster Bangladesh

[Marva Richardt]

Murshedwas born in Dhaka, Pakistan (now Bangladesh), to Manzur Murshed and Najma Ahmed. He picked up the game from his older brother. His neighbor was Jamilur Rahman, who later became a national champion himself. These favorable conditions may have contributed to the young Murshed's devotion to chess. Murshed passed his SSC exam in 1983 from St. Joseph Higher Secondary School and HSC exam in 1985 from Dhaka College.[3]

As a nine-year-old, Murshed entered the preliminary rounds of the national chess championship. Although he failed to qualify, he left a lasting impression on all present. By the age of 12, he was considered [by whom?] one of the top players in Bangladesh. In 1978, he finished first in the national championship with two others, but ultimately placed third on a tie-breaker. He went on to win the next four national championships in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982.[4]

In 1979, Murshed played in his first international competition at Kolkata, India. In 1981, placed second in the zonal tournament, held in Sharjah, UAE the same year, earning his International Master Title in the process. Later that year, he tied for first in the Asian Junior Championship, held in Dhaka, but was counted second on tiebreak since he had fewer wins (and losses) than Ricardo de Guzman (Philippines) who was awarded the title and automatic IM. Murshed participated in the 1982 World Junior Chess Championship, and although he failed to replicate his recent success, his game against Lars Schandorff of Denmark (later a grandmaster) was selected as the best game of the tournament.

Murshed earned his first Grandmaster norm in 1984 due to his success in Bela Crkva Open, Yugoslavia (1983), Oakham School Youth Tournament (ahead of Nigel Short and Maxim Dlugy), Commonwealth Chess Championship, Hong Kong 1984. He earned his second grandmaster norm in 1986, thanks to his solid performance in Capstain International Tournament, Dhaka (1985) and Calcutta Grandmasters Tournament, Calcutta (1986). In 1987, FIDE awarded him the Grandmaster title, making him the first GM in South Asia.

Upon earning his bachelor's degree in economics, Murshed returned to chess. However, his playing declined when he found it hard to adapt to the new generation of information driven chess. Nonetheless, he still found success from time to time in the international scene: first in the Goodrich, India (1991), second in the GM Tournament, Cebu, Philippines (1992), third in the Doha Chess Festival, Qatar (1993), T-1st place with two other contestants in the zonal tournament (1993), and finally, T-2nd place in the Commonwealth Chess Championship in 2004.

After earning his Grand Master title, Murshed went to the University of Pennsylvania to study economics. He played in only a handful chess tournaments during this time, but earned his bachelor's degree.

Bangladesh's top-ranked chess grandmaster Ziaur Rahman died Friday at the age of 50 after suffering a stroke and collapsing on his board in the middle of a national championship match, an official said.

Bangladesh Chess Federation general secretary Shahab Uddin Shamim told AFP that Ziaur collapsed during his 12th round match of the championship against fellow grandmaster Enamul Hossain before he was declared dead at a hospital in the capital Dhaka.

"It was my move. So, when he was falling down, I thought he was leaning down to pick up a water bottle. But then he collapsed, and we rushed him to the hospital. His son was playing at the next table".

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Bangladesh's top-ranked chess grandmaster Ziaur Rahman died Friday at the age of 50 after suffering a stroke and collapsing on his board in the middle of a national championship match, an official said. Bangladesh Chess Federation general secretary Shahab Uddin Shamim told AFP that Ziaur collapsed during his 12th round match of the championship against fellow grandmaster Enamul Hossain before he was declared dead at a hospital in the capital Dhaka. "Players and officials present in the hall room took him to the hospital quickly after he collapsed. Upon reaching there, doctors said he had already died," Shamim said.

According to reports from media outlets such as the Times of India and The Straits Times, the 50-year-old chess expert was taking part in a national championship match on Friday, July 5 against fellow grandmaster Enamul Hossain when he suffered a stroke and collapsed during the 12th round.

"Players and officials present in the hall room took him to the hospital quickly after he collapsed. Upon reaching there, doctors said he had already died," Shahab Uddin Shamim, the Bangladesh Chess Federation general secretary, told AFP.

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.

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 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.

As per reports, 50-year-old Rahman, the highest ranked chess player in Bangladesh was playing his 12th round match of a national championship on Friday, when he suddenly felt uneasy, suffered a cardiac arrest and breathed his last.

Rahman, was playing against fellow grandmaster Enamul Hossain, when he had a cardiac attack, and was rushed to a hospital in the Bangladesh capital, where he was declared dead. His death was confirmed by Bangladesh Chess Federation general secretary Shahab Uddin Shamim.

Rahman was not only Bangladesh's highest ranked chess player but he won several chess championships in his country and outside. He also participated in the 44th Chess Olympiad in India in 2022, sources informed.

Igors Rausis, a Ukrainian-born ex-grandmaster who has competed for Latvia, Bangladesh, and the Czech Republic, has made history not only for becoming an elite player well into his 50s, but for receiving the harshest ban chess's governing body has ever handed out. Not that it's stopped him from continuing to play in other tournaments.

Last December, Rausis was stripped of his grandmaster title and banned from FIDE-rated events for six years after he was caught using a cell phone hidden in the bathroom during a tournament in France. Rausis first drew scrutiny from chess authorities six years ago, when his ELO rating began to rise steadily and consistently until he became the oldest player ranked in the world top 100 and almost cracked the 2700 Club. The chess world praised him for his rise, though the higher-ups at FIDE were openly skeptical about the legitimacy of his ranking. FIDE investigators revealed that Rausis had used a phone on at least four occasions and fixed the outcome of another.

When he received his ban, a penitent Rausis promised that he'd played his "last game of chess already." He may still have been telling the truth on a technicality there, since he was spotted competing as "Isa Kasimi" in the Vsevoloda Dudzinska Memorial tournament in Latvia this past weekend. Rausis, who we'll henceforth refer to as Kasimi, legally changed his name to his ex-wife's surname because of the shame of the toilet incident. Kasimi was recognized by Latvian grandmaster and eventual tournament winner Arturs Neiksans, who told Chess24 he recognized Kasimi after someone warned him there was an unrated player who was crushing opponents.

Neiksans said Kasimi was trying to obscure his identity with a mask and a pair of crutches, though Kasimi spoke to Chess.com and denied it. He also claimed he'd already competed in two other tournaments under his new name. As FIDE chief Emil Sutovsky clarified in response to a question from grandmaster streamer Hikaru Nakamura, the Latvian tournament was not a FIDE event (although it used to be), so Kasimi's participation was permitted by the terms of his ban. Even after Neiksans lodged his protest and made his case to top Latvian chess officials, Kasimi was still legally allowed to keep playing.

However, once Kasimi's cover was blown, he didn't play another game in the tournament. His third-round opponent refused to play him, and organizers eventually asked him to leave. "It felt like it tainted the memory of Vsevolods Dudzinskis, my former coach, to have a cheater in his first memorial tournament," Neiksans told Chess.com. Kasimi did not fight the organizers' decision (though he was disappointed), and he deserves a shred of credit for handling the disgrace without accusing anyone of doing "PIPI in your pampers."

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