The Australian Chess Championship is a tournament organised by the Australian Chess Federation and held every two years. The tournament is largely restricted to Australian chess players, although it is common to allow a small number of strong overseas players to compete. The highest-scoring eligible player (frequently the tournament winner) holds the title of Australian Chess Champion until the next tournament is held. The tournament format is normally a restricted Swiss system, and in case of a tie for first place, a playoff match or tournament is conducted.
Since 1971, the Australian Open has been held in the intervening years. This event is open to all players, regardless of nationality, and the winner holds the title of Australian Open Champion.
The Australian Junior Championship and Australian Girls Championship are held annually. The Australian Women's Championship was previously organised as a separate tournament but current regulations award the title of Australian Women's Champion to the highest placed Australian female player in the Australian Open (dependent on a minimum number of female entries). [1]
Prior to 2008, the tournament usually began in late December (after Christmas) and finished in January. Since 2008, the tournament has usually been held entirely in January. In the table, the year refers to the date the tournament finished.
The Australian Junior Chess Championship is a tournament organised by the Australian Chess Federation and is held every year. It is restricted to junior players under 18 years of age. The Australian Girls Championship is held concurrently.
Since 1989 a system has been in place with points accumulated in different Australian weekend tournaments. The winners have been: [5]
The Grand Prix has not been held since 2019.
Darryl Keith Johansen is an Australian chess grandmaster. He has won the Australian Chess Championship a record six times, and represented Australia at fourteen Chess Olympiads.
China is a major chess power, with the women's team winning silver medals at the Olympiad in 2010, 2012, and 2014; the men's team winning gold at the 2014 Olympiad, and the average rating for the country's top ten players third in the FIDE rankings as of April 2023.
The Doeberl Cup is an annual chess tournament held in Canberra, Australia. It has been held every year since 1963 and is the longest running weekend chess event in Australia. Since its inception the event has grown both larger and stronger, and often attracts more players than the Australian Chess Championships.
Zhao Zong-Yuan is an Australian chess Grandmaster. As of September 2019, he was the third-ranked active chess player in Australia.
David Craig Smerdon is an Australian chess player and economist who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). He is the seventh highest ranked chess player of Australia. Smerdon has played for the Australian team in the Chess Olympiad since 2004. He currently is working as a coach at Anglican Church Grammar School, his former school.
George Xie is an International Master (IM) of chess, chess tutor and a former Australian Open chess champion.
Women's chess in Australia has been occurring since the 1930s and competitive chess tournaments in Australia were taking place on a state level by 1934.
The Australian Masters is a chess tournament that has been held in Melbourne, Australia, annually since 1987. The tournament is an invitational event, normally run as a 10-player round-robin tournament. Since 2013 the tournament has become Australia's only round-robin Grandmaster tournament. A major sponsor of the tournament since its inception has been Eddy Levi.
Leading chess players from the FIDE Oceania Zone 3.6 are allowed to play in the Oceania Chess Championships. The tournament is conducted by the FIDE Oceania Zone President and Oceania Chess Confederation under the auspices of the world chess federation, FIDE.
Bobby Cheng is a New Zealand-Australian chess player. Cheng was world champion in the under 12 category in 2009, the only Australian in history to win a world over-the-board title. Cheng won Australian Open championship in 2013 and Australian chess Championship in 2016. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2019.
Stephen John Solomon is an Australian chess International Master (IM). He became a FIDE Master (FM) in 1986, and an International Master (IM) in 1990. He won the Australian Junior Chess Championship in 1980 and the Australian Chess Championship in 2008.
Mikhail Gluzman is a Ukrainian-Australian chess International Master and an experienced chess coach.
Igor Bjelobrk is an Australian chess International Master (IM). He gained the International Master title after winning the 2013 Oceania Zonal Chess Championship held on Sonaisali Island, Fiji.
Maxwell Leonard Fuller was an Australian chess FIDE Master (FM). He was born and died in Sydney, and represented Australia in nine Chess Olympiads between 1964 and 1990.
Anton Vladimirovich Smirnov is an Australian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster (GM) by FIDE in 2017.
Narelle Kellner was an Australian chess player who held the title of Woman International Master. She was a two-time winner of the Australian Women's Chess Championship.
Moulthun Ly is an Australian chess player. He was awarded the Grandmaster title by FIDE in 2016 to become Australia's sixth grandmaster (GM). He is the first person born in Cambodia to become an International Master or a Grandmaster.
Temur Kuybokarov is an Uzbekistani-Australian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2019. He qualified as a grandmaster at age 18 - the first from Western Australia - and then in 2020 became Australian chess champion. Born in Tashkent, he represented Uzbekistan until transferring to Australia in 2018.
Events in chess in 1987.
Elmer Prudente is a chess Candidate Master (CM) who has represented Guam at World Chess Olympiad.
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