The Begonia Open Chess Tournament is one of the most popular events in the Australian Chess Calendar – it is a ‘must-play’ event for all aspiring chess players. This year they have introduced a special Under 1200 Rating Tournament which would be brilliant for all juniors.

Here is a letter from Kevin Perrin:

To all chess players

The Ballarat Chess Club Inc is pleased to forward details for the 53^rd Begonia Open Chess Tournament which will be held in Ballarat over the Victorian Labour Day long weekend from 9 to 11 March 2019.

I have attached a flyer and an entry form and I would invite you to participate. The tournament will be a Class 5 ACF Grand Prix event and it will be both ACF and FIDE rated. You can register and even pay your entry fee at the dedicated tournament website at www.begoniaopen.com where further details on the event can be found.

We are expecting a very strong entry of Australian Grandmasters and International Masters. We have already received indications of intention to compete from Grandmasters Anton Smirnov, Zong-Yuan Zhao, Darryl Johansen and Moulthun Ly as well as from Bobby Cheng who recently qualified as a GM. I encourage you to enter before the early bird discount expires on 22 February 2019.

We are pleased to confirm that Grandmaster Ian Rogers will provide live commentary on the games. This has proved to be very popular in previous years. Peter Tsai will be our Chief Arbiter again this year. The guaranteed prize list has been maintained from the record levels of last year.

This year a special Under 1200 tournament has been added. This separate 5 round event will be held on Sunday and Monday of the long weekend. It is designed for players who are newer to tournament chess and do no wish to or who are not quite ready for the longer event. A flyer is attached on this tournament and more detail is shown on the entry form attachment.

If you require accommodation then it should be arranged as soon as possible since it is always very busy in Ballarat during the Begonia Festival period.

Kind Regards

Kevin Perrin (Organizer) 0418 533 517

Ballarat Chess Club Inc.