The Most Famous
CHESS PLAYERS from Austria
This page contains a list of the greatest Austrian Chess Players. The pantheon dataset contains 461 Chess Players, 7 of which were born in Austria. This makes Austria the birth place of the 18th most number of Chess Players behind Serbia, and Italy.
Top 7
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Austrian Chess Players of all time. This list of famous Austrian Chess Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Carl Schlechter (1874 - 1918)
With an HPI of 57.40, Carl Schlechter is the most famous Austrian Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages on wikipedia.
Carl Schlechter (2 March 1874 – 27 December 1918) was a leading Austro-Hungarian chess master and theoretician at the turn of the 20th century. He is best known for drawing a World Chess Championship match with Emanuel Lasker.
2. Rudolf Spielmann (1883 - 1942)
With an HPI of 55.54, Rudolf Spielmann is the 2nd most famous Austrian Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.
Rudolf Spielmann (5 May 1883 – 20 August 1942) was a Jewish-Austrian chess master of the romantic school, and chess writer.
3. Ernst Grünfeld (1893 - 1962)
With an HPI of 50.21, Ernst Grünfeld is the 3rd most famous Austrian Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Ernst Franz Grünfeld (November 21, 1893 – April 3, 1962) was an Austrian chess player and writer, mainly on opening theory. He was among the inaugural recipients of the grandmaster title in 1950.
4. Erich Eliskases (1913 - 1997)
With an HPI of 48.15, Erich Eliskases is the 4th most famous Austrian Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Erich Gottlieb Eliskases (15 February 1913 – 2 February 1997) was a chess player who represented Austria, Germany and Argentina in international competition. In the late 1930s he was considered a potential contender for the World Championship. Eliskases was granted the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1952.
5. Johann Berger (1845 - 1933)
With an HPI of 46.23, Johann Berger is the 5th most famous Austrian Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Johann Nepomuk Berger (11 April 1845, Graz – 17 October 1933) was an Austrian chess master, theorist, endgame study composer, author and editor. In September 1870, he won the first tournament in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at Graz. In 1875, he won a match against Alexander Wittek (14 : 4) in Graz, and drew a match with Paul Lipke (3½ : 3½) at Eisenach 1896. He tied for 5–6th at Graz 1880 (Max Weiss, Johannes von Minckwitz and Adolf Schwarz won); tied for 9–10th at Berlin 1881 (second DSB Congress, Joseph Henry Blackburne won); took fourth at Nuremberg 1883 (third DSB–Congress, Simon Winawer won); tied for 11–12th at Hamburg 1885 (fourth DSB–Congress, Isidor Gunsberg won); tied for 5–6th at Frankfurt 1887 (fifth DSB–Congress, George Henry Mackenzie won); took tenth at Breslau 1889 (sixth DSB–Congress, Siegbert Tarrasch won); tied for 4–5th at Graz 1890 (Gyula Makovetz won); tied for 8–9th at Leipzig 1894 (ninth DSB–Congress, Tarrasch won). He took eighth place at Cologne 1898 (eleventh DSB–Congress, Amos Burn won); tied for 7–10th at Munich 1900 (twelfth DSB–Congress, Géza Maróczy, Carl Schlechter and Harry Pillsbury won); tied for 6–7th at Coburg 1904 (fourteenth DSB–Congress, Curt von Bardeleben, Schlechter and Rudolf Swiderski won); took sixth at Barmen 1905 (Dawid Janowski and Maroczy won); tied for 7–8th at Vienna 1907 (Jacques Mieses won); tied for 16–18th in the Carlsbad 1907 chess tournament (Akiba Rubinstein won), and took fifteenth in the Vienna 1908 chess tournament (Oldřich Duras, Maróczy and Schlechter won). Berger was the first Austrian to win an important international correspondence tournament the Monde Illustré 1889–1892, and he did so with the result of 45 wins, no losses, and three draws. He was editor of the Deutsche Schachzeitung and author of Das Schachproblem und dessen Kunstgerechte Darstellung (Leipzig 1884), Theorie und Praxis der Endspiele (Leipzig 1890), Problemen, Studien und Partien (Leipzig 1914). Berger was a major endgame study composer, having published more than 100 studies, many of which gave notable contributions to endgame theory. His book Theorie und Praxis der Endspiele (Theory and Practice of the Endgame) was published in 1891, revised in 1922, and supplemented in 1933. This was the first modern comprehensive book on practical endgames, and was the standard work on endgames for decades. Berger discussed the tie-break system now called the Sonneborn–Berger system, but he did not invent it. See Tie-breaking in Swiss system tournaments#Sonneborn–Berger for details.
6. Eva Moser (1982 - 2019)
With an HPI of 26.65, Eva Moser is the 6th most famous Austrian Chess Player. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Eva Moser (26 July 1982 – 31 March 2019) was an Austrian chess player. She was awarded the titles International Master (IM), in 2004, and Woman Grandmaster (WGM), in 2003, by FIDE. Moser won both the absolute and women's Austrian chess championships. She competed in the Women's World Chess Championship in 2008.
7. Markus Ragger (b. 1988)
With an HPI of 24.46, Markus Ragger is the 7th most famous Austrian Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Markus Ragger (born 5 February 1988) is an Austrian chess grandmaster. He won the Austrian Chess Championship in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and has played the first board for Austria in the Chess Olympiads since 2008. In October 2016, he became the first Austrian to reach a FIDE rating of 2700. His peak rating is 2703, which he reached in February 2017.
People
Pantheon has 7 people classified as Austrian chess players born between 1845 and 1988. Of these 7, 1 (14.29%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Austrian chess players include Markus Ragger. The most famous deceased Austrian chess players include Carl Schlechter, Rudolf Spielmann, and Ernst Grünfeld. As of April 2024, 1 new Austrian chess players have been added to Pantheon including Johann Berger.
Living Austrian Chess Players
Go to all RankingsDeceased Austrian Chess Players
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Carl Schlechter
1874 - 1918
HPI: 57.40
Rudolf Spielmann
1883 - 1942
HPI: 55.54
Ernst Grünfeld
1893 - 1962
HPI: 50.21
Erich Eliskases
1913 - 1997
HPI: 48.15
Johann Berger
1845 - 1933
HPI: 46.23
Eva Moser
1982 - 2019
HPI: 26.65
Newly Added Austrian Chess Players (2024)
Go to all RankingsOverlapping Lives
Which Chess Players were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 6 most globally memorable Chess Players since 1700.
