Author: Ian Rogers

Given the crowding of the Australian tournament calendar – a good thing! – there is no longer a holiday week available when children from all States can come together for a national training camp, as the Junior Elite Training Squad was set up to be 25 years ago. Many States, however, have already set up…

A record five States won titles at the 2025 Australian Junior Championships, held in 12 divisions in Perth in January. Winners of the premier titles were Australian Junior Championship Teh Rui Gen from Western Australia and Australian Girls Champion Athena-Malar Retnaraja from South Australia.

The 2025 Australian Junior Chess Championships will be held in Perth, WA, at the Manning Community Hall in Manning, from 13 until 21 January.

It is with regret we must announce that the Australian Junior Elite Training Squad (JETS) camp in July has been cancelled. A combination of factors, both personal and external have led to this decision. Most prominently, the lack of a full week in July when almost all States will have school holidays. Only July 6-8…

The Australian Junior Championships, which includes divisions from Under 18 to Under 8, both open and girls divisions, will be held from January 13 to 21 in Glenunga, Adelaide. The tournament website is: https://australianjuniorchesschampionship2024.org/ The oldest open age divisions cover all nine days (bar the rest day which includes the Australian Problem Solving and Blitz…

We are pleased to invite applications from talented Australian juniors for the 2023 Australian Junior Elite Training Squad – JETS. The JETS Squad is Australia’s premier development squad. Applicants are judged by commitment and improvement, as well as rating, with a preference for applicants aged 10-14. (However any junior may apply.) A maximum of 30…

Melbourne’s Ryeyansh Annapureddy has won the Asian Under 8 Championship in Bali, the first time an Australian player has won an Asian title since Shane Hill’s win of the Under 20 title in 1988. Perth’s Rebo Fu also captured a bronze medal in the Under 16 Open division, while Ekaterina Gratchev and Jayden Ooi, both…

After a three year break, the Australian Junior Championships, in divisions from Under 8 to Under 18, will be held again. The event will take place between January 12 and 20 in Melbourne. Details: https://sites.google.com/view/ajcc2023/

After 13 years of support, Geraldine Johns-Putra is ending her sponsorship of the Junior Elite Training Squad. In those 13 years, Johns-Putra (and her legal consulting firm Johns-Putra Limited) has helped hundreds of Australia’s most promising young players. JETS and Australia’s junior chessplayers owe the former Olympian (both as player and captain) a great debt…

2022 Johns-Putra Australian Junior Elite Training Squad (JETS) Applications are now open for the 2022 JETS Training Squad sponsored by Geraldine Johns-Putra. We are pleased to invite applications from talented Australian juniors for the 2022 Australian Junior Elite Training Squad – JETS. The JETS Squad is Australia’s premier development squad. Applicants are judged by commitment…