Markus Ragger

Markus Ragger was born in Klagenfurt on 5 February 1988. He attended primary school in Maria Saal and graduated with honours from the Ingeborg Bachmann Gymnasium in Klagenfurt. Afterwards he did his civilian service at the Disabled Support Centre in Klagenfurt. He studied mathematics at the University of Klagenfurt for one semester before devoting his full attention and energy to chess. Markus is a professional chess player, has two children and lives in Graz.

Chess was in Markus' cradle. His grandparents played chess against each other every day and so he learned the rules as a toddler. At the age of 6 he joined his first chess club Maria Saal, for which he still plays in the Austrian Bundesliga.

Successes
- 16-time Austrian National Champion in the General Class
- Winner of the First Bundesliga with clubs in 9 different countries (AUT, BIH, CZE, ESP, FRA, GER, HUN, NOR, SLO)
- 67 points from 112 appearances on the 1st board for Austria at European Team Championships and Olympiads
- Since May 2010 first and so far only Austrian with more than 2600 elopoints
- October 2016 first and so far only Austrian with more than 2700 Elopoints
- February 2017 Highest Elo rating with 2703 Elopoints, Highest world ranking 41.place
- 11 top-10 rankings in individual European and World Championships
- Best chess player in the German-speaking world
- Voted Austrian "Chess Player of the Century" in 2020