Information below regarding the Australian Championship and Australian Reserves is an interpretation of ACF By-law 1. Please refer to the By-law for the full details of the official eligibility requirements.
Australian players
(Australian citizens or permanent residents)
You may play in one of the tournaments even if you don’t have a rating. Entry to the Reserves tournament is limited to players ACF-rated below 2150 or unrated. There will be lower rated and unrated players in the Reserves tournament. Alternatively there is the Classic tournament which is limited to ACF-rated below 1800 and foreign players FIDE-rated below 1800.
Foreign players
(Not Australian citizens or permanent residents)
Must have a FIDE ID to play in any of the tournaments. Foreign players with an ACF rating below 2150 and FIDE rating under 2150 may use the online form to enter the Reserves (subject to confirmation by the ACF selection committee for players with a FIDE rating of 2000-2149). Players with a FIDE rating of 2150 or more must contact the organisers to request entry to the Championship tournament. Note that there is a limit on the number of foreign players in the Championship tournament section.
Australian Championship
Australian Chess Federation is the body responsible for deciding eligibility to participate in the Australian Championship, as per By-Law 1 of the ACF Constitution. A selection committee will determine the final field.
As a minimum requirement, the player normally must meet one of the following criteria:
Automatic Qualification
- An Australian citizen or a person with permanent resident status and has a rating of at least 2150 on December 2019 ACF list; or
- Current Australian Champion; or
- Current or immediately previous Australian Junior Champion; or
- Current or immediately previous Australian Women’s Champion; or
- Winner of the previous Australian Major; or
- Current State or Territory Champion
Qualification requiring ACF approval
- An Australian citizen or a person with permanent resident status rated under 2150 on the December 2019 ACF list but is deemed by the ACF Council to be of an equivalent level of proficiency; or
- An improving junior who is deemed by the ACF Council to be of sufficient standard; or
- A nominee of a State or Territory that would not otherwise have a person in the Australian Chess Championship; or
- A foreign player who has a rating of at least 2250 on the most recent FIDE rating list and who has played at least 20 ACF-rated games in the past two years
Foreign players may win prize money but are ineligible for the title of Australian Champion.
Australian Reserves
- Open to all Australian players ACF-rated below 2150 on the December 2019 list who aren’t selected to the Australian Championship
- Open to foreign players with an ACF rating below 2150 and a FIDE rating less than 2150 (those without a FIDE rating or with a FIDE rating of 2000-2149 need to be reviewed by the ACF selection committee before their entry can be confirmed)
St George Chess Classic
Open to players ACF-rated below 1800 or foreign players FIDE-rated below 1800.
Australian Blitz Championship
Open to all players. Note: International players must have a FIDE ID.