’
Bangladesh’s top-ranked chess grandmaster Zia ur 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 Sahab Uddin Shamim told AFP that Zia ur collapsed during his 12th round match of the championship against fellow grandmaster Enamel 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.
Enamel said it took them a few seconds to realize that he had suffered a massive stroke.
“When he was playing, it never felt like he was sick,” said Enamul.
“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”.
is the highest ranked of Bangladesh’s five chess grandmasters.
Leave a Reply