Memorial Page for Eva Moser (née Sopalla)

Eva Moser (born 26 July 1982 in Tamsweg; died 31 March 2019 in Graz) was an Austrian chess player. She held the titles Woman Grandmaster and International Master, won the open Austrian championship and set a benchmark in Austrian chess for many years.

Early tournaments

Moser came to chess as a child. Within a few months she won an Austrian youth championship; more youth titles followed in the next years. In 1998 she won silver at the European under-16 girls' championship in Mureck. Her path soon led into international tournaments, team events and the leading boards of Austrian squads.

Titles and national championship

In 2003 Moser became the first Austrian woman to receive the Woman Grandmaster title. In 2004 she added the International Master title. In 2006 she won the Austrian championship in the general section; she was the first woman to take that title in Austria. In 2010 and 2011 she also won the Austrian women's championship.

Playing style

Moser looked for her own paths at the board. Austrian chess sources describe her play as creative, willing to accept risk and well prepared in endgames. Her motto Imagination instead of theory matched games in which she left opening templates and took tactical possibilities seriously. That made her difficult to predict in tournament play.

International chess

At the 2007 European women's championship in Dresden, Moser qualified for the 2008 Women's World Chess Championship. Her peak rating came in July 2012 with 2471 Elo points. Around the turn of 2013/2014 she scored 7.5 points from 9 games at the Gutmann Memorial in Augsburg and achieved a grandmaster norm.

Graz

Alongside her playing career, Moser completed a degree in business administration in Graz and worked for the Austrian chess magazine Schach Aktiv. Eva Moser died in Graz on 31 March 2019. She was 36 years old. In Austria her name remains connected with determination at the board, analytical work and orientation for later women players.