Now a resident of nearby Formby, Haslinger comes from a strong chess-playing family. Taught by his father at four years of age, he became British under-12 champion in 1993, in step with the achievements of sisters Cathy and Mandy, who were British girls' junior champions across the range of age groups. Cathy progressed to become World Youth Champion (for girls under-14) in 1987.
Haslinger finished a Master's degree in mathematics at Liverpool University in 2006 and decided to spend some time trying to become a chess Grandmaster.[1] Achieving his aim sooner than expected, he gained his final two norms at the 2006/7 4NCL and at the Caerleon South Wales International 2007,[2] having previously earned a norm at the British Championship of 2002. It was around the time of his first norm that he experienced a leap forward in his chess, following several months of dedicated chess study during a period of ill health.[3][4]
Haslinger has represented SG Trier in the German Schachbundesliga from 2009. He began his studies for a PhD in applied mathematics at the University of Liverpool in 2010 and was awarded it in 2014.