Niaz Murshed

Niaz Murshed was born in Dhaka in 1966 and learned chess from his older brother. He attended St. Joseph Higher Secondary School and Dhaka College. At twelve he shared the highest score in the national championship, then won four consecutive Bangladeshi titles from 1979 to 1982. In 1987 he became South Asia's first grandmaster.

After earning the title, Murshed studied economics at the University of Pennsylvania and played fewer tournaments. He returned to competitive chess after completing his degree. His later results included shared first place in the 1993 zonal and shared second at the 2004 Commonwealth Championship. In 2012 he regained the Bangladeshi championship, thirty years after his previous title. He also represented Bangladesh at eight Olympiads between 1984 and 2014.