Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman fell ill and died while playing in the National Chess Championship. The incident took place in the 12th round of the National Chess Championship on Friday (05 July).

Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman was in a good position against another grandmaster Enamul Hossain Rajeev in the game. Suddenly, two chess players Shakil and Naim rushed to the chess federation room and said, "Jia Bhai has lost his head."

Hearing that news, everyone rushed to the chess board room. Everyone hastily grabbed him and brought him down. Ibrahim was taken to Cardiac Hospital. After the examination, the emergency department doctors declared Ziaur Rahman dead.

General Secretary of Bangladesh Chess Federation Syed Shahabuddin Shamim confirmed the death of Zia to RisingBD. He said, "He died when he was picked up in the car to take him to the hospital. After that, the doctors confirmed it when taken to the hospital. However, his relatives are still unable to accept the matter. Their hope is that Zia is still alive.

It should be noted that at the end of the 11th round of the 48th National Chess, Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh Ansar was in second place alone with 8 points. Last time champion Grandmaster Enamul Hossain Rajiv with whom he was playing today was joint third with seven and a half points.