Rani from Bangladesh: At 81, the oldest active Woman IM and chess-book author who retains passion for the game

Indian Express

3 days ago

The 81-year-old looked shattered when she lost a first-round game to 12-year-old Paras Kalia during the 21st Delhi International Chess Open.
Her shawl slipped from her hands as she signed the scoresheet, exchanged copies, and handed one to the arbiter. It was Bangladesh's Sayeda Jasimunnessa Khatun, better known as Rani Hamid — the oldest active Women's International Master — who had just lost. When Paras returned to collect his scoresheet, the octogenarian and the preteen spent 20 minutes analysing the endgame.
Hamid remained quiet, exhausted and perhaps unsettled by losing to a child younger than her grandson.
'How can I be happy with this?' she says with a grin. I'm getting old now. I should have found the draw with my knight,' Rani tells The Indian Express.
The 20-time National Women's Champion of Bangladesh, Rani was born in British India in 1944. It wasn't until 1979 — when the Bangladesh Chess Federation (BCF) joined the International Chess Federation (FIDE) — that she could formally play the sport she was 'attracted to.' By then 35, Rani had seen her world transform — from British India to East Pakistan to independent Bangladesh after the 1971 war, and her being the mother of four children.
As an energetic child, Rani discovered what would become her lifelong passion. 'There was no chess culture as such. I didn't even play. But I had so much energy, always running around, never sitting quietly as a child. That changed when I noticed my father playing chess with friends. It somehow attracted me, and I would sit quietly watching them. It felt meant for me, even though chess barely existed in East Pakistan — not for the public, not even in schools,' she recalls.
For women, the game was practically non-existent in Bangladesh post the '71 war. That changed when she married MA Hamid, a progressive lieutenant colonel in the Bangladesh Army and a sports fanatic himself. A boxer, swimmer, cricketer and footballer, Hamid would go on to establish the Bangladesh Handball Federation and chair the National Sports Council.
'My husband knew I was mad about chess,' Rani remembers. He knew if I heard chess being played, I'd rush to join. He saw a newspaper advertisement and asked me, 'There's this tournament happening – you want to play?… Be ready for it.' I was nervous at first. I didn't even know you had to study chess, that there were books for it. All I knew was that I wanted to play,' she says.
'I was actually lucky that I became the champion in the first tournament I played,' she adds.
Rani's success was aided by former Pakistan zonal champion Dr Akmal Hussain. 'He turned out to be my neighbour, and I practiced with him to improve. Later, I won the same tournament nine more times. Until everyone grew tired of seeing the same name,' she adds with a laugh. 'Then my husband suggested I write a book to inspire young Bangladeshi girls to take up chess.'
Rani authored a book titled 'Mojar Khela Daba', which literally translates to 'Fun Game Chess.'
She could speak endlessly about three pivotal figures in her life: her father, her husband, and her eldest son. Her father introduced her to chess, her husband encouraged her to pursue it professionally, and her son Kaiser Hamid carved his own legacy in a different sport.
Kaiser, a central defender for Kolkata's Mohammedan Sporting Club, captained the Bangladesh national team for years. 'He was very popular in Bangladesh. In fact, he remains highly regarded, people thought the world of my son,' says the proud mother.
She speaks equally fondly of her father: 'My father was champion in his college days… swimming, tennis, badminton.'
Nor does she miss praising her husband: 'He excelled in all outdoor sports. He held boxing records in Pakistan, and his swimming record stood for years in both Pakistan and Bangladesh.'
Rani has represented Bangladesh in every Chess Olympiad since 1984, including three participations in the Open section (competing alongside male players). She even won the British Women's Championship three times before the event stopped allowing foreign players.
But now, her age is catching up with her skills. Disappointed with her recent performances, Rani stands 407th in a field of 443 players, having secured just one win and a draw in seven rounds. Ahead of her Wednesday game, the combined age of her opponents — all Indians under 18 — totals three years less than her own age.
Much of this struggle can be traced to a 'distressing' incident at New Delhi airport that left her 'shaken,' as she described it. Her companion Ashiya Sultana was denied entry and deported due to a previous visa violation for having played a tournament in Kolkata when in the country on a medical visa.
When asked if she would continue playing chess, Rani replies, 'What do I have apart from this? I'm alone without chess.'