Markus Ragger

Markus Ragger, born in Klagenfurt in 1988,
is an Austrian chess grandmaster, national team player, coach and author.
He learned chess from his grandparents at a very young age and joined SK Maria Saal at six,
a club he continues to represent today.
After completing his secondary education at the Ingeborg Bachmann Gymnasium and his civilian service,
Ragger began studying mathematics at the University of Klagenfurt but left to pursue a professional chess career.
He became an International Master in 2005 and a Grandmaster in 2008.
In May 2010, he became the first Austrian to surpass a rating of 2600, followed by 2700 in October 2016.
Ragger reached his peak rating of 2703 in February 2017 and was ranked as high as number 41 in the world.
He won the Austrian Championship in classical chess four times
—in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2021—
as well as numerous national titles in rapid and blitz chess.
Since 2008, he has regularly represented Austria at Chess Olympiads and European Team Chess Championships.
His major tournament successes include winning the 2015 Politiken Cup and the 2016 Vienna Open.
In 2020, readers of Schach Aktiv voted him Austria’s “Player of the Century”.