Johann Berger


Johann Nepomuk Berger 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 in Graz, and drew a match with Paul Lipke at Eisenach 1896.
He tied for 5–6th at Graz 1880 ; tied for 9–10th at Berlin 1881 ; took fourth at Nuremberg 1883 ; tied for 11–12th at Hamburg 1885 ; tied for 5–6th at Frankfurt 1887 ; took tenth at Breslau 1889 ; tied for 4–5th at Graz 1890 ; tied for 8–9th at Leipzig 1894.
He took eighth place at Cologne 1898 ; tied for 7–10th at Munich 1900 ; tied for 6–7th at Coburg 1904 ; took sixth at Barmen 1905 ; tied for 7–8th at Vienna 1907 ; tied for 16–18th in the Carlsbad 1907 chess tournament, and took fifteenth in the Vienna 1908 chess tournament.
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, Theorie und Praxis der Endspiele, Problemen, Studien und Partien.
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 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.