Niaz Murshed is a Bangladeshi chess player and the first grandmaster from South Asia. Murshed was born on May 13, 1966, in Chittagong. He was extremely active in the chess community by winning awards as early as the under-14 chess championships.
Murshed claimed the title of International Master in 1985, which later led to him making history in 1987 by becoming the youngest grandmaster at the age of 20. His record held for two months before it was overtaken by Jaan Ehlvest. Despite this, Murshed continued to make his mark on the chess world, particularly in his home country of Bangladesh.
Throughout his career, Murshed had many more successes. He was the Bangladesh Chess Championship winner multiple times, and he won the Indian Championship in 1986 and 1987. In 1990, he placed first at the 7th Asia Chess Championship. He is also known for winning open international tournaments in many countries across the world.