We are proud that the Gold Coast Open, our flagship weekend tournament, is part of all three Grand Prix series (Queensland, Australia and Oceania), and the only Queensland event in the Oceania series. It is one of only seven top level category 5 events in the series, the others being held in Queenstown NZ (already held in January), Doeberl Cup, Canberra over Easter (already held), Sydney International Open (immediately after the Doeberl Cup - already held), Fiji International (May, already held), NSW Open (9-11 June, already held), Gold Coast Open (22-24 June), Noumea Open (16-20 July).

The Gold Coast Open is split into open, under 1600 and under 1000 sections.

• This year the open will have 6 rounds, with longer time controls of 90+30 Fischer, and this will necessitate a round on Friday evening.

• The under 1600 and under 1000 sections will each have 7 rounds with 60+10 Fischer time controls. Please note: the under 1600 and under 1000 sections do not play on the Friday evening.

• Grandmaster Ian Rogers will be giving live game analysis at the venue. This is always a very popular addition.

Confirmed entries in the Open event, at the time of writing, include:

• GM Zong Yuan Zhao ACF 2540 (Australia's number one player) NSW

• IM George Xie 2424 NSW

• IM Moulthun Ly 2420 QLD

• FM Max Illingworth 2393 NSW

• FM Junta Ikeda 2423 ACT

• FM Domagoj Dragicevic 2307 VIC

• IM Andrew Brown 2253 ACT