Background
Rogers is regarded as the first Australian to become a chess grandmaster (Walter Browne achieved the title earlier, but grew up in the United States of America and represented Australia only from 1969-1972).
Rogers is regarded as the first Australian to become a chess grandmaster (Walter Browne achieved the title earlier, but grew up in the United States of America and represented Australia only from 1969-1972).
Before turning professional, Rogers completed a Bachelor of Science (Meteorology) from the University of Melbourne.
He was Australia"s highest rated player for over twenty years, and represented Australia at fourteen Chess Olympiads (twelve of them on first board). He retired on medical advice in 2007. Among his career highlights are three consecutive victories from 1988 to 1990 in the grandmaster tournament in Groningen (outright by a clear point in 1988 and 1989, and jointly in 1990).
Throughout his competitive career and more so since his retirement from competitive chess in July 2007, Rogers has reported on many tournaments for various media outlets, with photographic assistance from Cathy Rogers.
He was a panelist for British Broadcasting Corporation television during their 1993 World Championship coverage and covered numerous major championships for news agency Reuters. Rogers has also worked as a public commentator at high level tournaments around the world.
He is a distant cousin of Australian cricketer Chris Rogers. Rogers" peak international ranking was 50th in the world in 1999, and he was the highest ranked Australian player from 1984 until his retirement in 2007.
His best single performance was at Groningen, 1989 where he scored 6.5/9, a point ahead of Viswanathan Anand.
Ian Rogers vs Viktor Korchnoi, Biel-A, Christian Blind Mission 01 1986, French Defense: Winawer, Retreat Variation General (C18), 1-0
Ian Rogers vs Robert Huebner, Wellington, Christian Blind Mission 07 1988, Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack (B90), 1-0
Ian Rogers vs Alexey Shirov, Groningen 1990, Sicilian Defense: Boleslavsky Variation (B59), 1-0
Kiril Doctorate Georgiev vs Ian Rogers, Switzerland 1993, Benko Gambit: Accepted, Modern Variation (A57), 0-1
Ian Rogers vs Peter Acs, Wijk aan Zee 2003, English Opening: King"s English, Two Knights" Variation Smyslov System (A22), 1-0
Ian Rogers vs Roland Berzinsh, 4NCL 2006-2007 2007, Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical, Berlin Variation (E38), 1-0.
