Father-son duo to compete in four tourneys in 37 days 

In a quest to earn the second of the three norms required to become an International Master, Tahsin Tajwar Zia is all set to participate in four international tournaments abroad in succession, starting from July 19.

Fide Master Tajwar will be accompanied by his father, Ziaur Rahman. The country's second Grandmaster will also compete in those four tournaments -- three in Greece and one in the United Arab Emirates -- as Ziaur set his sights on elevating his 2452 rating. 

"No doubt, I also need to participate in more tournaments to increase rating and improve quality. My focus is on these two aspects in four tournaments," Ziaur told The Daily Star over phone on Saturday.

Tajwar, the seventh-ranked chess player in the country, bagged his first IM norm from a regional chess tournament recently.

"Tahsin [Tajwar Zia] has taken good preparation for these four international tournaments. I believe he has a good opportunity to achieve a norm from these tournaments. He currently has one IM norm but needs two more to become IM," said the 49-year-old Grandmaster.

Ziaur thanked his sponsor, Bangladesh Police Chess Club, and Tazwar's sponsor, Saif Powertec, and also expressed gratitude towards Shoeb Riaz Alom, Police Chess Club general secretary, "who has coordinated the whole thing, of arranging their participation in four tournaments in succession."

The father-son duo are scheduled to leave here in the early hours of Monday. They will take part in 16th Open Chess Tournament in Paleochora (19th July-26th July), 32nd Open International Chess tournament in Kavala (28th July-4th August), 3rd International OPEN SKG Chess Academy "White Tower" (5th August-12th August in Thessaloniki, and Abu Dhabi Chess Festival (14th August-25th August).