GM Zia passes away

Sports Reporter :

Grandmaster (GM) Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh passed away from a heart attack while he was competing in the 12th round match of the Saif Powertech 48th National Chess Championship at the Bangladesh Chess Federation hall-room in the capital on Friday.

Zia played against fellow Grandmaster Enamul Hossain Rajib at the competition-venue but he suddenly fell to the ground at around 5:30pm. Zia’s fellow chess players and the officials of Bangladesh Chess Federation then rushed him to the Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital in the capital’s Shahbag, where the doctors soon declared him dead.

”Zia bhai is no more. He breathed his last at around 6:00pm at Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital,” confirmed former national chess player Tonima Parveen, who was staying at the hospital with Zia.

Zia, who earned the Grandmaster title in 2002, is survived by his widow and only son FIDE Master Tahsin Tajwar Zia, also a National Chess Player of Bangladesh.

Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman was 50 at the time of his passing.