Grand Master Ziaur Rahman passed away from a heart attack while competing in the 12th round match of the National Chess Championship in Dhaka today.

Gm Ziaur was competing against fellow GM Enamul Hossain Rajib at the Chess Federation hall room but he suddenly fell to the ground at around 5:45 pm.

Fellow chess players and officials then rushed him to the Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital in Shahbag, where the doctors soon declared him dead.

"The doctors couldn't find a heart beat after we took him there and declared that he had passed away," Harun Ur Rashid, chief arbitrator of the Bangladesh Chess Federation told The Daily Star.

Ziaur was 50 at the time of his passing.