Markus Ott

Markus Ott (30-01-1960 - 01-10-2021) Excellent Swiss chess composer

In his later years, he called himself Johannes Markus Ott.

Markus Ott composed direct mates or fairies or proof games. 

About him:

"I'm sorry to say that I received confirmation today that Johannes Markus Ott died on 1-Oct-2021 after a long illness. I didn't know him well, but we did collaborate very amicably a couple of years ago on a few retros, and I was struck by his unique intelligence." Andra Buchanan (Source: MatPlus.Net)

"Markus was a striking encounter I had in Wiener-Neustadt, my first participation in a WFCC meeting (1980).
He presented me a brillant set of proofgames (some of them composed with Roland Baier who was also there). He was convinced that this was a promising field to explore (before that, I was only aware of the famous SPG 41.5 by Karl Fabel). Well..." Michel Caillaud (Source: MatPlus.Net)

"In 1977, two 17-years old boys, Markus Ott and Reto List, came to Malinska to represent Switzerland in the 20th WCCC and 1st WCSC, together with Roland Baier, the future World champion in solving. At first, I was shocked to see someone younger than me, but soon after I was deeply impressed by their sharp minds, hungry to produce highly original, ambitious and harmonious combinations. Their trips through ex-Yugoslavia in later years included Belgrade, where we composed a couple of problems together.
This incredible tandem cooperated only several years, mostly 1977-82. After that, Reto stopped appearing in press, except under pseudonyms. Luckily for chess composition, Markus kept producing masterpieces, as the h#3 presented here. His spirit will keep living through these diagrams." Marjan Kovačević (Source: MatPlus.Net)

"Markus, or Johannes Markus, as he chose to call himself in recent years, will be missed.

"Sadly, his health didn't allow him recently to compose on the same high level as in his younger years. His contribution to the first reciprocal setting of the Rehm theme in a orthodox helpmate is a notable exception..." Thomas Maeder (Source: MatPlus.Net)

Source: MatPlus.Net

"Markus Ott from Switzerland, who attracted attention at a young age with his extraordinary achievements, has died at the age of 61 (see issue 529). Despite his genius, he did not always have an easy life;" Wilfried Neef Source: schachbund.de/problem/problemschachaufgabe-636-nachruf-markus-ott.html

Chess problem Database Server: On pdb.dieschwalbe.de 158 chess problems, many of high level composed by him can be replayed.