Géza Maróczy was active from the late 19th to the early 20th century, and was a top player of his era. His highest achievement was possibly the 1907 challenge to World Champion Emanuel Lasker for the title, which never took place due to negotiations breaking down.
Maróczy was born in Szeged, Hungary and was a professor of mathematics by occupation. He won many prestigious chess tournaments, such as the Monte Carlo (1902) and the Budapest (1905). His style of play was described as positional, steady and defensive, which earned him a high draw frequency with top players. He was an expert in endgames and especially renowned for his skills playing with rooks.
In addition to his playing career, Maróczy also contributed to theoretical chess as a trainer, author, and contributor to opening theory. He wrote an important contemporaneous book on the 1921 World Championship match between Lasker and Capablanca. He helped train Vera Menchik, the first Women's World Chess Champion.
Maróczy retired from competitive play in 1911 but returned in the 1920s. He retired again in 1932 and relocated to Tihany, Hungary. He died on 29 May 1951, and posthumously, the Maróczy Bind strategy was named after him due to his frequent use of it. The strategy aims to limit a player's opponent's mobility in the middlegame and subsequent endgame.
While he never held the World Champion title, he is regarded as having played at a similar level. At his peak, he was in the top ten players globally for 19 years and held the number one spot for a short period. Maróczy is considered one of the greatest Hungarian chess players of all time.