GM Zia breathes his last doing what he loved

Chess Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman passed away yesterday after suffering a cardiac arrest during the 12th round match of the National Chess Championship in Dhaka, leaving the country's sports fraternity numb with grief with his sudden demise at the age of 50.

Zia suddenly fell to the ground midway during a game against GM Enamul Hossain Razib at the Bangladesh Chess Federation Hall room at around 5:45 pm.

He was immediately rushed to the Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital in Shahbag but was declared dead by the duty doctor.

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Zia was devoted to chess till his last day

"Zia bhai and I were playing when suddenly he fell down," GM Razib told The Daily Star.

"Zia bhai had shown no signs of discomfort. He fell down to his right side and I thought he was picking up a bottle of water. When I called him, he did not respond. Everyone rushed to him. He was senseless. He was immediately taken to the hospital but he was no more," Razib recalled the events.

Zia, who in 2002 became the second chess player from Bangladesh to become a GM after Niaz Murshed, was the only chess player of the country who took chess as a profession.

He earned a living by competing locally and internationally in chess tournaments, unlike other top chess players of the country who have other sources of income.

His only child – FIDE Master Tahsin Taswar Zia – also plays chess and the father-son dup represented Bangladesh in the Chess Olympiad in 2022. His wife Tasnim Sultana also played chess at an amateur level.

In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Zia told this reporter that despite all the hardships he has gone through, he never strived for any other occupation as he loved the game of chess.

After GM Zia fell to the ground, the other players also abandoned their respective matches and came to the hospital, which turned into a place of mourning.

"I think Zia bhai had been the best chess player of the country. What he did was unachievable for other chess players including me whether it was in the national chess championships or international competitions," Razib said.

"As a human being, he was excellent, he had no bad habits. He even offered his prayers during the games. During the Asian Games in China last year, he was not performing well and he felt bad. But he was more concerned about my performance rather than his."

Having played in many local and international competitions over the years, Zia devoted himself to coaching in the last few years but continued playing chess for the club and Bangladesh.

Razib believes Zia is irreplaceable.

"It is a big loss for Bangladesh chess because he could have served the nation for few more years. We always relied on Zia bhai when we competed the Chess Olympiad because we knew there was no one other than Zia bhai to play against the strong opponent in board-1."