Chess Coaches in Australia

The Australian Chess Federation (ACF), a FIDE member since 1939, is built from seven state and territory associations covering every state plus the ACT, so organized competition and ratings exist right across the country rather than in one hub. Canberra hosts the Doeberl Cup, held every year since 1963 (bar 2020) and considered the country's leading weekend tournament, drawing strong interstate and overseas players over Easter. The ACF runs the biennial Australian Chess Championship, alongside yearly Women's, Junior, and Girls' Championships. Australia has fielded a team at the Chess Olympiad since the 1960s, and while it has never hosted the event, it has produced a real lineage of grandmasters, from Ian Rogers in the 1980s through to David Smerdon and Anton Smirnov today. Melbourne's chess club dates back to 1866, and the State Library of Victoria holds the Southern Hemisphere's largest chess literature collection, the MV Anderson Collection.

• The Australian Chess Championship runs every two years, with the Australian Women's, Junior, and Girls' Championships filling the other years, all organized by the Australian Chess Federation (ACF).
• Canberra's Doeberl Cup, running since 1963, is the country's premier weekend tournament and a good entry point for interstate and even international players over the Easter long weekend.
• Each Australian state and the ACT has its own chess association under the ACF, so local competition and grading are easy to find no matter where you live.