Abdul-Razzaq Ahmed Taha

Who was Abdul-Razzaq Ahmed Taha?

Abdul-Razzaq Ahmed Taha was an Iraqi chess player and former president of Iraqi Chess Federation.

He represented the Iraqi national team in the Chess Olympiad on three occasions, 1972 in Skopje, 1974 in Nice and 1984 in Thessaloniki. In the 1972 Olympiad he played the top board for Iraq which eventually finished second last, Taha scoring 4 wins, 4 draws and 9 losses. However his upset win over the grandmaster Walter Browne in the match against Australia was spectacular and became part of the chess education for all Iraqi chess players, and Simon Webb in Chess for Tigers selected this game as one of two examples of "How to trap Heffalumps", in a chapter on how to play against opponents who are considerably stronger than oneself.