Leading chess players from the FIDE Oceania Zone 3.6 are allowed to play in the Oceania Chess Championships. [1] [2] The tournament is conducted by the FIDE Oceania Zone President and Oceania Chess Confederation under the auspices of the world chess federation, FIDE. [3]
Before January 2012, the Oceania Chess Championship was scheduled as part of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle, and winners qualified to represent the FIDE Oceania Zone at the Chess World Cup. Since 2012 the Oceania Chess Championship has been held every year, with only each alternate (odd numbered) year acting as the Oceania Zone Championship and Chess World Cup qualifier. In these years, the title of International Master (IM) is awarded to the winner(s) of the Oceania Zone Championship event, as per the FIDE title regulations. [4]
The first Oceania Chess Championship was organised by the inaugural Oceania Zone President, Graeme Gardiner, on the Gold Coast, Australia in 1999. Vladimir Feldman of Australia won the event, undefeated, with a score of 7/9. In May 2000, an additional Oceania Zonal Chess Championship was held to coincide with changes in the schedule of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle. Only an open event was held that year, without a separate women's championship, and was won by Aleksandar Wohl with a score of 7.5/9.
In 2001, Mikhail Gluzman and Mark Chapman shared first place with a score of 7/9, but the former won a rapid chess play-off match and the title. In 2011 the Women's event resulted in a tie between Irina Berezina and Emma Guo. A playoff match was held later in the year in Sydney, and was won by Berezina with a score of 2.5/3. The 2013 Women's event again resulted in a tie between Irina Berezina and Emma Guo. Berezina won the playoff match, at the end of the tournament, with a score of 2/2. In 2015, untitled player Brodie McClymont beat IM Max Illingworth in the last round to catch him for 1st= with scores of 7.5/9, which means an automatic IM title. Illingworth beat McClymont 1.5–0.5 in the rapid chess playoff match for Zonal Champion.
| Year | City | Senior Champion | Senior Women's Champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 [30] | Christchurch |  Brian Jones (Australia) |  Vivian Smith (New Zealand) |
| 2011 [31] | Melbourne | Mirko Rujevic (Australia) | Vivian Smith (New Zealand) |
| 2012 [32] [33] | Parramatta | Anthonie Luchtmeijer (Australia) | Helen Milligan (New Zealand) |
| 2013 [34] | Christchurch | David Lovejoy (Australia) | Helen Milligan (New Zealand) |
| 2014 | Sydney | Gary Lane (Australia) | Vivian Smith (New Zealand) |
| 2015 | Auckland | Leonard McLaren (New Zealand) | Helen Milligan (New Zealand) |
| 2016 | Nadi | Gary Lane (Australia) | |
| 2019 [35] | Auckland | Michael Steadman (New Zealand) | |
| 2021 | Noosa | Cancelled due to COVID | Cancelled due to COVID |
| Year | President |
|---|---|
| 1998-2002 | Graeme Gardiner (Australia) |
| 2002-2010 | Gary Bekker (Australia) |
| 2010-2014 | Brian Jones (Australia) |
| 2014-2022 | Paul Spiller (New Zealand) |
| 2022- | Shaun Press (Papua New Guinea) |
Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and the second highest rated female player of all time. A chess prodigy, she was the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of grandmaster and the youngest ever to win the Women's World Chess Championship.
The World Senior Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament established in 1991 by FIDE, the World Chess Federation.
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.
Irina Berezina is an Australian chess International Master and trainer, and five-time Oceania women's chess champion. She was born in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Vladimir Feldman is an Australian chess International Master and trainer.
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.
Laura Moylan is an Australian chess Woman International Master (WIM).
Russell John Dive is a New Zealand chess International Master (IM).
Anthony Fergus Ker is a chess International Master (IM).
Ngan Phan-Koshnitsky is a Vietnamese-Australian chess player holding the title of Woman International Master (WIM). She is now known as Ngan Nadalin.
Stuart Fancy is a Papua New Guinean chess FIDE Master (FM).
Paul Anthony Garbett is a chess International Master (IM).
Shaun Press is a Papua New Guinean chess player and official. He holds the titles of FIDE Master (FM) and International Arbiter (IA).
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.
Max Illingworth is an Australian former chess player, and current chess trainer and writer. In 2022 he started playing poker professionally. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 2016, becoming the fifth Australian to achieve this. Illingworth won the Steiner Medal in 2011, 2012 and 2015. His current FIDE rating is 2493. He retired from competitive chess in 2019, to concentrate on coaching and writing.
Scott Wastney is a New Zealand chess player who holds the title of FIDE Master (FM).
Biljana N. Dekić is a chess Woman International Master who has represented Australia in eleven Chess Olympiads.
Emma Guo is an Australian chess player holding the FIDE title of Woman International Master (WIM). She won the Oceania Women's Chess Championship in 2015.
Julia Ryjanova is a Russian and Australian chess player with the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She competed in the Women's World Chess Championship in 2001.
