Johann Berger

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.

Johann Berger is recorded as chess composer, chess player, writer, university teacher and chess theoretician.