Māris Krakops is a Latvian chess grandmaster, born on April 9, 1960 in Riga. He holds the International Master (IM) title from 1980 and the Grandmaster (GM) title from 2007. He competed in nine chess Olympiads and four European Team Chess Championships, representing Latvia.
Krakops won twice the Latvian Chess Championship in 1978 and 2003. He was successful in several international chess tournaments, including winning the Copenhagen Open in 2007 and 2008. And gaining shared first place in Stockholm 1981, Pärnu 1982, Copenhagen 1983, and Riga 2002 and 2003.
He played as part of the Latvian team at the Chess Olympiads, where Latvia finished in the top ten five times. His best individual result was achieved in 1978, when he was the best first reserve. He also represented Latvia in the Team Chess Championships. Krakops works as a chess coach and is a FIDE Trainer since 2005.