Ioannis Papaioannou is a Greek chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster, which he achieved in 1998. He is known as one of the leading Greek chess players.
Born on 20th October, 1976, Papaioannou began playing chess at the age of five and the First Saturday IM tournament in Budapest in 1992 was his first international tournament.
Over the years, he has achieved several major victories, such as winning the Greek Chess Championship six times (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2004, 2008) and the European Team Chess Championship in 1989. Notably, he was also a part of the Greek team that won a silver medal in the 34th Chess Olympiad in 2000.
Beyond playing professionally, Papaioannou also coached the Greek Women's team, which won the European Team Chess Championships in 2001 and 2003, and the Greek Junior's team, which won the Mediterranean Championship in 2002.