Biography of Niaz Murshed
Grandmaster (1987)
(13 May, 1966 – Present)
Niaz Murshed is the first Bangladeshi Chess Grandmaster. In 1987, at the age of just 21, he won the title of “Grandmaster” becoming the first one in South Asia. Before that, in 1982, he also became the International Master (IM) at only 16. In this successful journey, he played over a thousand national and International matches representing our country’s honor.
Real Name: Niaz Murshed
Date of Birth: 13 May, 1966 (age 57)
Place of Birth: Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
Father Name: Manzur Murshed
Mother Name: Najma Ahmed
Sibling: 2 (Brothers)
Professions: Player (Chess)
- Federation – Bangladesh
- FIDE ID – 10200010
- World Rank (Active) – 2411
- Title – Grandmaster (1987)
- Peak Rating – 2525 (July 1993)
- Number of Games – 419 (according to database)
- FIDE Rating – 2404
- Rapid – 2496
- Blitz – 2442
- Overall Record – +131-120 = 147 (51.4%)*
Education:
- Passed SSC from St. Joseph Higher Secondary School in 1983.
- Passed HSC from Dhaka College in 1985.
- Graduated in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Religion: Islam
Native Language: Bangla
Spouse: Not Known
Children: 1
Favorite Hobby: Music.
Awards and Achievements:
- International Master (IM) – 1982
- Grandmaster (GM) – 1987
- FIDE Trainer – 2016
- World Rank (All Players) – 4164
- World Rank (Active Players) – 2411
- Continent Rank Asia (All Players) – 1181
- Continent Rank Asia (Active Players) – 488
- National Rank BAN (All Players) – 4
- National Rank BAN (Active Players) – 3
Early Life
Niaz Murshed was born on 13 May 1966. His birthplace is in Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). He is the son of Manzur Rahman and Najma Ahmed. His father was a government employee and his mother was a housewife. He has two brothers. He spent his childhood with his family in Dhaka.
During his childhood, he was very mischievous. He used to play outside all day with his friends. To distract him from his mischievousness, Murshed’s mother encouraged him to play chess.
Murshed learned chess at a very early age from his elder brother. He learned the moves of chess when he was six years old. Later, one of his neighbors Jamilur Rahman became a national champion on his own. That inspired Murshed as well to go on this incredible journey.
Education
Murshed started his schooling at Holy Cross School. Later during 3rd standard, he took admission in St. Joseph Higher Secondary School. As he was so passionate about chess, his mother used to worry about her son’s studies. But with the help of one of his brothers who was also the teacher of the school assured Murshed’s mother. He even helped Murshed a lot both in his studies and chess.
Murshed also mentioned an old man of his locality in an interview. As there was not much opportunity to collect information due to the lack of technology systems. It was quite difficult for Murshed to collect the important news about chess and tournaments. So, the old man used to help Murshed by collecting all the information through the newspaper clippings. As a consequence, Murshed was able to win the chess matches besides passing his SSC examination with a good result.
After passing the SSC in 1983, he took his admission to Dhaka College. There he passed the HSC examination in 1985. Later, he got the opportunity to study at the University of Pennsylvania. Then he finished his graduation in Economics there.
Career
Niaz Murshed started his career as a chess player from a very early age. In December 1974, at the age of only nine, he entered the preliminary rounds of the National Chess Championship. He became a national Chess player when he was just in 4th standard. Though he was not qualified for further rounds. Yet he left an impressive impression on all.
Just after three years, he got recognition as one of the top chess players in Bangladesh. In 1978, Murshed finished first with two others in the National Championship. Although he got the third position on a tiebreaker. After that, he consequently went on to win the next four National Championships in 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1982. Surprisingly, after 30 years, he became National Champion again in 2012.
After placing his name among the top list of players in Bangladesh, Murshed then went to the International Chess Tournaments. His first international competition was held in Kolkata, India in 1979. After two years, in 1981, he participated in the Zonal Tournament, held in Sharjah, UAE. There he placed in the second position. In 1982, he got his first title, International Master (IM) in the process.
Later, he tied himself for the Asian Junior Championship. The tournament was held in Dhaka. Unfortunately, he was counted second on the tiebreak as he had fewer wins against Richardo de Guzman (Philippines). In 1982, he participated in the World Junior Chess Championship. But regretfully he also couldn’t make his success continue. Murshed lost the match against Lars Schandorff (Denmark). The game was selected later as the best game of the tournament.
After all those failures, finally Murshed came back again, winning the Grandmaster norm in 1984. His incredible success in the Bela Crkva Open, Yugoslavia (1983), Oakham School Youth Tournament, Commonwealth Chess Championship, Hong Kong (1984) made him earn the title.
After two years, in 1986, Murshed earned his second Grandmaster norm based on his solid moves in the Capstan International Tournament in Dhaka (1985) and Calcutta Grandmasters Tournament in Calcutta (1986). Later that year, FIDE awarded Murshed with the Grandmaster (GM) title which made him the first GM in South Asia.
After winning the GM title, Murshed took a break as he went to finish his graduation at the University of Pennsylvania. Earning the Bachelor’s degree, he came back to chess. However, he faced a lot of setbacks as it was hard to compete with the new generation. In an interview, he said that chess at that time was quite difficult as there were not many facilities for communication or technology. But the new generation was much upgraded in this regard. That’s why, it was quite tough to beat the information driven chess.
Despite all these difficulties, he still achieved success in a number of remarkable international matches like Goodrich, India (1991), GM Tournament, Cebu, Philippines (1992), Doha Chess Festival, Qatar (1993), Zonal Tournament (1993). He achieved a peak rating of 2525 in July 1993. In 2004, he placed T-2nd in the Commonwealth Chess Championship. Murshed also tied for 3rd-8th with Anton Filippov, Elshan Moradiabadi, Alexander Shabalov, Merab Gagunashvili, and Vadim Malakhatko in the Ravana Challenge Tournament. The tournament was held in Colombo in November 2009.
Moreover, Murshed also represented our country participating in the Chess Olympiads eight times in 1984, 1990, 1994, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2012, and 2014. He even played the role of a FIDE trainer in 2016.
Most Played Openings with the White Pieces
- Queen’s Pawn Game (24)
D02 A46 A40 E10 E00
- English (20)
A15 A17 A10 A19 A16
- Nimzo Indian (17)
E20 E21 E30 E59 E41
- King’s Indian (14)
E92 E75 E71 E73 E84
- Queen’s Gambit Declined (14)
D35 D31 D36 D38 D30
- Slav (10)
D10 D18 D17 D11
Most Played Openings with the Black Pieces
- Sicilian (33)
B47 B30 B44 B46 B23
- French Defense (18)
C10 C12 C01 C11 C18
- Queen’s Pawn Game (15)
A41 A40 E10 E00 D02
- Sicilian Taimanov (15)
B47 B48 B46 B45
- Queen’s Gambit Accepted (14)
D20 D25 D26 D29 D23
- English (13)
A10 A15 A14 A12 A18
Notable Games
- H Lim vs N Murshed, 2011 (0-1)
- N Murshed vs S Celis, 2009 (1-0)
- S M Rahman vs N Murshed, 2007 (0-1)
- Adianto vs N Murshed, 1992 (0-1)
- N Murshed vs J Nogueiras, 1991 (1-0)
Notable Tournaments
- Baku Olympiad (2016)
- Tromso Olympiad (2014)
- 11th BCC Thailand Open (2011)
- Commonwealth Championship (2008)
- Bangladesh Championship (2007)
- Bangladesh Championship (2006)
- 6th United Insurance (2003)
- 16th Lloyds Bank Masters Open (1992)
- British Championship (1990)
- 12th Lloyds Bank Masters Open (1988)
- British Championship (1988)
- Rubinstein Memorial (1986)
- British Championship (1984)
- British Championship (1983)
- British Championship (1982)
Notable International Games
Asian Zonal Chess Championship 2019 Start: 15-03-2019 | |
Rahman Ziaur (BAN) vs Murshed Niaz (BAN) | 1-0 |
Murshed Niaz (BAN) vs Mohammad Javed (BAN) | 1-0 |
Md. Shawkat Bin Osman Shaon (BAN) vs Murshed Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Murshed Niaz (BAN) vs Nayem Haque (BAN) | 1-0 |
Murshed Niaz (BAN) vs Mohammad Minhaz Uddin (BAN) | ½ – ½ |
CJKS-Four H Group Diamond Cement International Grandmasters Chess Tournament 2018 Start: 02-09-2018 | |
Rajbhandari Rijendra (NEP) vs Murshed Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Murshed Niaz (BAN) vs Rahman Md. Taibur (BAN) | ½ – ½ |
Murshed Niaz (BAN) vs Neelash Saha (IND) | 1-0 |
S M Sharon (BAN) vs Murshed Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Murshed Niaz (BAN) vs Lalit Babu M R (IND) | ½ – ½ |
Murshed Niaz (BAN) vs Mohammad Fahad Rahman (BAN) | ½ – ½ |
Mollah Abdullah Al Rakib (BAN) vs Murshed Niaz (BAN) | ½ – ½ |
Rahman Ziaur (BAN) vs Murshed Niaz (BAN) | 1-0 |
Murshed Niaz (BAN) vs Mehdi Hasan Parag (BAN) | 1-0 |
Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad (IND) vs Murshed Niaz (BAN) | ½ – ½ |
S. A. Group of Companies Ltd Premier Division Chess League 2017 Start: 09-02-2017 | |
Murshed Niaz (BAN) vs Islam Mohammad Aminul (BAN) | 1-0 |
Murshed Niaz (BAN) vs Goganov Aleksey (RUS) | 1-0 |
Kaustav Kundu (IND) vs Murshed Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Avik Sarker (BAN) vs Murshed Niaz (BAN) | ½ – ½ |
Murshed Niaz (BAN) vs Gias Uddin Ahmed (BAN) | 1-0 |
Ahmed Sheikh Nasir (BAN) vs Murshed Niaz | 1-0 |
Murshed Niaz (BAN) vs Hasan Eunus (BAN) | 1-0 |
Mihir Lal Das (BAN) vs Murshed Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Chowdhury Sohel (BAN) vs Murshed Niaz (BAN) | ½ – ½ |
Murshed Niaz (BAN) vs Dewan Shahidul Amin (BAN) | 1-0 |
First Friday Nov 17 IM Tournament (Puchong) Start: 03-11-2017 | |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Looi, Xin Hao (MAS) | ½ -½ |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Lye, Lik Zang (MAS) | ½ -½ |
Setyaki, Azarya Jodi (INA) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Wong, Yinn Long (MAS) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Raja Rithvik R (IND) | 1-0 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Chakravarthy Y V K (IND) | 1-0 |
Lioe, Dede (INA) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Mas, Hafizulhelmi (MAS) | 1-0 |
9th Chennai Open Grandmaster Chess Tmt for Sakthi Dr. N. Mahalingam Trophy Start: 18-01-2017 | |
Selvamurugan B (IND) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Ganguly, Ritabroto (IND) | ½ -½ |
Aniruddh Aiyengar (IND) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Ajay Krishna, S (IND) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 1-0 |
Delhi Open 2017 (New Delhi) Start: 09-01-2017 | |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Patil, Mitali (IND) | 1-0 |
Deviatkin, Andrei (RUS) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 1-0 |
Prasannaa.s (IND) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Gireman, Ja (IND) | 1-0 |
Singh, S. Vikramjit (IND) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Mahalakshmi, M (IND) | ½ -½ |
Harikrishnan.A.Ra (IND) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Masango, Spencer (ZIM) | 1-0 |
Swayams, Mishra (IND) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 1-0 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Sangma, Rahul (IND) | 1-0 |
OMICON 42nd National “A” Chess Championship 2016 Start: 07-11-2016 | |
Mohammad, Javed (BAN) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Abu Sufian, Shakil (BAN) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 1-0 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Mollah Abdullah, Al Rakib (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Haque, Rezaul (BAN) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Hossain, Enamul (BAN) | 0-1 |
Rahman, Md. Taibur (BAN) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Islam, Khandaker Aminul (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Rahman, Ziaur (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Ikramul, Haq Siam (BAN) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Rahman, Syed Mahfuzur (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Mehdi Hasan Parag (BAN) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Mohammad Minhaz Uddin (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Ahmed, Sheikh Nasir (BAN) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Steinitz Open (GM Norm Section), Cape Town Start: 09-05-2014 | |
Toma, Katarzyna (ENG) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Emojong, Elijah (UGA) | 1-0 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Steel, Henry Robert (RSA) | 1-0 |
Solomon, Kenny (RSA) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 1-0 |
Kasparov, Sergey (FID) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 1-0 |
Gluckman, David (RSA) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) VS Strikovic, Aleksa (SRB) | ½ -½ |
4th Incheon Asian Indoor &, Martial Arts Games Men Individual (Incheon) Start: 30-06-2013 | |
Celis, Joel (MAC) VS Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) VS Sethuraman, S.P. (IND) | 0-1 |
Nanjo, Ryosuke (JPN) VS Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Nguyen, Duc Hoa (VIE) VS Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 1-0 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) VS Akhras, Khaled (SYR) | 1-0 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) VS Zaw Oo (MYA) | 1-0 |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) VS Mohammad, Samir (SYR) | ½ – ½ |
8th United Insurance & United Leasing Grandmasters Chess Tournament, Dhaka Start: 27-05-2007 | |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Mohammad Minhaz Uddin (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Nguyen Anh Dung (VIE) | 0-1 |
Lalit Babu M R (IND) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 0-1 |
Rahman, Md. Taibur (BAN) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | ½ -½ |
Murshed, Niaz (BAN) vs Rahman, Syed Mahfuzur (BAN) | 1-0 |
Ahmed, Sheikh Nasir (BAN) vs Murshed, Niaz (BAN) | 1-0 |
Contributions, Awards and Achievements
Niaz Murshed is one of the finest players who brought such an honor to our country. His incredible moves made him the first South Asian Grandmaster (GM) in the subcontinent. In fact, not just in the subcontinent, he was the first and only Grandmaster from Barma to the Turkey Zone. After him only 4 players could achieve to match his level till now.
One of the most interesting moments he had in his career when he was offered a friendly match with the foreign minister. In October, 2021, a competition “Sheikh Russel Memorial Rapid Chess Tournament” was arranged in the remembrance of Sheikh Russel. There he had a match after the opening ceremony with the foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen. The match was 12 minutes long and Niaz Murshed won, defeating the foreign minister. Dr Momen praised Niaz Murshed and encouraged the chess players to go on through his speech.
Niaz Murshed chiefly plays positional chess. He is known for building up small advantages leading to a victory. That strategy led him to all these tremendous achievements.
Personal Life
Niaz Murshed is a very talented person besides having incredible knowledge about chess. Apart from chess, he started business as well during his studies in Pennsylvania. Murshed has also a great interest in music. He has featured several music videos as well. Murshed gave his voice in those songs besides performing.
Murshed is married and the couple is blessed with a daughter. He is now living in Dhaka with his family. Besides maintaining his business and family, he is still an active chess player. He is often seen in Chess competitions playing chess. His uncommendable passion for chess has made him reach such a peak.
Controversies
Niaz Murshed is a pride to our nation who brought a lot of achievements to our country. But this outstanding talent was controversial as he took a break from chess. Some even talked about their fear that this player might lose his track. The fear turned true as Murshed started to face setbacks returning to chess. But soon the chess player nourished his strategies and stood up again.
Though Murshid still regrets taking the break. Because he thinks that he might do much better in his career if he didn’t take the off. He even considers the break as a barrier to earning the title of Super Grandmaster. Because that could create many facilities for our chess.
In an interview, he even blamed the politics of chess on the federation. He claimed that only older players were given sponsorships and that too for political reasons. He also blamed the chess federation of Bangladesh as they didn’t pay much attention to the Grandmasters. As a sequence, the chess players of our country are not reaching the level they should have. Otherwise, our country could go much further in chess according to Murshed.
Legacy
Niaz Murshed is an incredible talent in our nation. He became an inspiration for a lot of the new generation. As a consequence, our country got four more Grandmasters in chess. However, Murshed believes our new generation can do much more than this. Because he thinks our teenagers are much more qualified than before.
According to Murshed, earning the Grandmaster (GM) title is a long-term process. That’s why it is quite difficult but not impossible. The way Murshed stuck to his passion with great dedication is an inspiration to the teenagers of our country. Moreover, experienced trainers like Murshed are also elevating our chess and the players as well into a new level.
Conclusion
Over more than 40 years this incredible personality has uplifted the chess of our country with all his notable achievements. From participating in the National Championship at the age of 9 to achieving the Grandmaster title, he made a praiseworthy effort in chess. That’s why his name will always be remarkable in the history of chess.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niaz_Murshed
https://ratings.fide.com/profile/10200010
https://www.chess.com/players/niaz-murshed
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এই ওয়েবসাইটের সমস্ত বিষয়বস্তু সরল বিশ্বাসে এবং শুধুমাত্র সাধারণ তথ্যের উদ্দেশ্যে প্রদান করা হয়েছে। একটি জীবনী তথ্যের সম্পূর্ণতা, নির্ভরযোগ্যতা বা সঠিকতা সম্পর্কে কোন গ্যারান্টি দেয় না। এই ওয়েবসাইটের উপাদানের ফলস্বরূপ আপনি যে কোনও পদক্ষেপ গ্রহণ করেন তা সম্পূর্ণরূপে আপনার নিজের ঝুঁকিতে। একটি জীবনী আমাদের ওয়েবসাইট ব্যবহার করার ফলে কোনো ক্ষতি বা ক্ষতির জন্য দায়ী নয়।