Josef Klinger is an Austrian chess Grandmaster (GM) and was born on 6 August 1959. He became an International Master (IM) in 1980, an honorary Grandmaster (GM) in 1988, and full GM in 1991. His career wins include Gausdal Classics in 1982 and the Austrian championships in 1992 and 1993.
Some of his notable individual performances are being placed second at Dortmund in 1980, third at Wijk aan Zee in 1981, and eighth in the World Junior Chess Championship in 1981. His team performances include representing Austria seven times from 1980 to 1992 in the Chess Olympiads, and six times in the European Team Chess Championships from 1980 to 2002.