Rogers was the first Australian to become a Chess Grandmaster, a title he achieved in 1985 after becoming an International Master in 1980. He was Australia's highest rated player for over twenty years, and represented Australia at fourteen chess olympiads (twelve of them on first board).

Rogers won more than a hundred tournaments including fifteen round-robin Grandmaster tournaments. He won the Australian Chess Championship four times - in 1980, 1986, 1998, and 2006.Among his career highlights are three consecutive victories from 1988 to 1990 in the grandmaster tournament in Groningen (outright by a clear point in 1988 and 1989, and jointly in 1990).

Before turning professional, Rogers completed a BSc (Meteorology) from the University of Melbourne. He is married to Cathy Rogers, herself an International Arbiter, Woman FIDE Master, and a lawyer.Since his retirement from competitive chess (in July 2007), Ian has covered many tournaments for various media outlets, with occasional photographic assistance from Cathy Rogers.

Rogers' peak international ranking was 50th in the world in 1999, andhe was the highest ranked Australian player from 1984 until his retirement in 2007.According to the unofficial Chessmetrics (which ignores most open and Australian tournaments), in January 1992 Rogers' play was equivalent to a rating of 2648. His best single performance was at Groningen, 1989 where he scored 6.5/9 against 2588-rated opposition (for a performance rating of 2683), with several strong attacking games.