1. The prescribed application for affiliation or renewal of affiliation by a club or league shall be in the form shown at Appendix 1.

2. The prescribed application for affiliation or renewal of affiliation by a person shall be in the form shown at Appendix 2.

3. Annual application fees shall be payable with the initial application for affiliation and then annually, except as provided in paragraph 3.1.

3.1 Clubs or leagues wishing to establish a common annual renewal date of Association membership for their members may, provided that all members of the club or league are members of the Association, be granted Council approval for pro rata payment of the membership subscription for each member of the club or league in his second or subsequent consecutive year or part thereof of Association membership.

3.2 The pro rata amount payable by each member shall be:-

3.2.1 100% of the normal membership subscription if the time between the member's actual renewal date and the common renewal date of the club or league is greater than nine calendar months;

3.2.2 75% of the normal membership subscription if the time between the renewal date and the common date is greater than six months but less than nine months;

3.2.3 50% of the normal membership subscription if the time between the renewal date and the common date is greater than three months but less than six months;

3.2.4 25% of the normal membership subscription if the time between the renewal date and the common date is less than three months.

3.3 Approval for admission of a member at the common date shall lapse if not renewed within one calendar month of the renewal date, and any subsequent renewal of membership by such member shall be regarded as his first year of Association membership.

3.4 A discount may be give to clubs or leagues which register all their members at the one common renewal date.

4. The results of tournaments and matches approved by the Association shall be processed for rating under the national rating system. All participants in Association-approved events must be members of a state chess association.

5. Tournament organisers shall be responsible for ensuring that all participants in Association-approved events are financial members of a state chess association.

 6. Should any participant in an Association-approved event not be a member of a state chess association, the organisers of the event shall pay a fee for each such participant to the Association. The Association recommends to organisers that non-members be charged a higher entry fee to cover such additional cost.

7. The following titles shall be awarded by the Association to winners of the qualifying events:-

7.1 Queensland Champion

7.2 Queensland Reserve Champion

7.3 Queensland Minor Champion

7.4 Queensland Junior Champion

7.5 Queensland Cadet Champion

7.6 Queensland Woman Champion

7.7 Queensland Girl Champion

7.8 Queensland Disabled Champion

7.9 Queensland Veteran Champion

8. The Association shall recognise regional titles and city titles in classes similar to those described in paragraph 7 awarded by affiliates in specific geographic regions or cities.

9. Without pre-empting the rights of affiliates to define their own regions, geographic regions may be defined as follows:-

9.1 Gold Coast - Telstra area code 0755

9.2 Darling Downs - Telstra area code 0746

9.3 Sunshine Coast - Telstra area code 0754

9.4 Wide Bay - Telstra area code 0741

9.5 Central Queensland - Telstra area code 0749

9.6 North Queensland - Telstra area code 0747

9.7 Far North Queensland - Telstra area code 0740

9.8 North-West Queensland - West of the Great Dividing Range and North of the Tropic of Capricorn

9.9 South-West Queensland - West of the Great Dividing Range and South of the Tropic of Capricorn

 10. Entry Qualifications for Queensland Title Championships

10.1 Queensland Championship

10.1.1 Entrants shall be financial members of the Association

10.1.2 The current Queensland Champion shall have right of entry

10.1.3 The current Queensland Junior Champion shall have right of entry

10.1.4 The current Queensland Reserve Champion shall have right of entry

10.1.5 Not more than two places may be reserved for invited players to meet a specific need, such as qualification for FIDE rating.

10.1.6 The remaining places shall be filled by the highest-rated players based on the current national rating list.

10.1.7 (deleted).

10.1.8 Entrants shall nominate not later than the notified closing date.

10.1.9 Should a vacancy occur at the commencement of the event, the vacancy shall be filled by the highest-rated available reserve or, if no reserves are available, by the highest-rated available entrant to the Queensland Major Championship.

10.2 Queensland Major Championship (Reserve Championship)

10.2.1 Entrants shall be financial members of the Association

10.2.2 Entrants shall not be eligible for the Queensland Championship

10.2.3 Current regional champions have a right of entry

10.2.4 The remaining places shall be filled by the highest-rated players based on the current national rating list.

10.2.5 Since the preceding Queensland Major Championship entrants must have played not less than fifteen games in open tournaments approved by the Association.

10.2.6 Entrants shall nominate not later than the notified closing date.

10.2.7 Should a vacancy occur at the commencement of the event, the vacancy shall be filled by the highest-rated available reserve or, if no reserves are available, by the highest-rated available entrant to the Queensland Minor Championship.

10.3 Queensland Minor Championship

10.3.1 Entrants shall be financial members of the Association

10.3.2 Entrants shall not be eligible for the Queensland Major Championship

10.3.4 Entrants shall nominate not later than the notified closing date

10.4 Queensland Junior Championship

10.4.1 Entrants shall be financial members of the Association

10.4.2 On 1st January of the Championship year, entrants shall be under the age of twenty years, and under the age specified in each age division to be eligible for the following titles:-

10.4.2.1 Queensland Under 20 Champion

10.4.2.2 Queensland Junior Champion (Under 18)

10.4.2.3 Queensland Under 16 Champion

10.4.2.4 Queensland Under 14 Champion

10.4.3 Entrants shall nominate not later than the notified closing date

10.5 Queensland Cadet Championship

10.5.1 Entrants shall be financial members of the Association

10.5.2 On 1st January of the Championship year, entrants shall be under the age of twelve years, and under the age specified in each age division to be eligible for the following titles:-

10.5.2.1 Queensland Cadet Champion (Under 12)

10.5.2.2 Queensland Under 10 Champion

10.5.2.3 Queensland Under 8 Champion

10.5.3 Entrants shall nominate not later than the notified closing date

10.6 Queensland Womens Championship

10.6.1 Entrants shall be financial members of the Association

10.6.2 Entry is restricted to female members

10.6.3 Entrants shall nominate not later than the notified closing date

10.7 Queensland Girls Championship

10.7.1 Entrants shall be financial members of the Association

10.7.2 Entry is restricted to female members

10.7.3 Entrants shall nominate not later than the notified closing date

10.7.4 On 1st January of the Championship year, entrants shall be under the age of twenty years

10.7.5 Girl Champion titles may be awarded in the same classes as those described in paragraphs 10.4.2 and 10.5.2

10.8 Queensland Disabled Championship

10.8.1 Entrants shall be financial members of the Association

10.8.2 Entry is restricted to members in receipt of a disability pension

10.8.3 Entrants shall nominate not later than the notified closing date.

10.9 Queensland Veterans Championship

10.9.1 Entrants shall be financial members of the Association

10.9.2 On 1st January of the Championship year, entrants shall be over the age of fifty years

10.9.3 Entrants shall nominate not later than the notified closing date.

11. Championship Formats

11.1 The Queensland Championship shall be:-

11.1.1 a ten-player round-robin tournament

11.1.2 submitted to FIDE for rating if eligible

11.1.3 played at time controls as determined by Council.

11.2 The Queensland Major Championship shall be:-

11.2.1 a Swiss tournament, with the number of players a determined by Council

11.2.2 played at time controls as determined by Council.

11.3 The Queensland Minor Championship shall be:-

11.3.1 a eight-round Swiss tournament, with the number of players being unlimited

11.3.2 played at time controls as determined by Council

11.3.3 played under Active (30 Minute) Chess rules during the final time control.

11.4 The Queensland Junior Championship shall be:-

11.4.1 a eight-round Swiss tournament, with the number of players being unlimited

11.4.2 played at time controls as determined by Council

11.4.3 played under Active (30 Minute) Chess rules during the final time control.

11.5 The Queensland Cadet Championship shall be:-

11.5.1 a eight-round Swiss tournament, with the number of players being unlimited

11.5.2 played at time controls as determined by Council.

11.6 The Queensland Womens Championship shall be:-

11.6.1 a Swiss tournament, with the number of players being unlimited

11.6.2 played at time controls as determined by Council

11.6.3 played under Active (30 Minute) Chess rules during the final time control

11.7 The Queensland Girls Championship shall be:-

11.7.1 a Swiss tournament, with the number of players being unlimited

11.7.2 played at time controls as determined by Council

11.7.3 played under Active (30 Minute) Chess rules during the final time control

11.7.4 combined with the Queensland Womens Championship if deemed appropriate by the organisers

11.8 The Queensland Disabled Championship shall be:-

11.8.1 a Swiss tournament, with the number of players being unlimited

11.8.2 played at time controls as determined by Council

11.8.3 played under Active (30 Minute) Chess rules during the final time control

11.8.4 combined with the Queensland Veterans Championships if deemed appropriate by the organisers

11.9 The Queensland Veterans Championship shall be:-

11.9.1 a Swiss tournament, with the number of players being unlimited

11.9.2 played at time controls as determined by Council

11.9.3 played under Active (30 Minute) Chess rules during the final time control

11.9.4 combined with the Queensland Disabled Championships if deemed appropriate by the organisers

11.10 Variations

11.10.1 The Council may approve the use of all moves in 60 minute time controls in title events, other than the Queensland Championship, Queensland Major Championship or Queensland Junior Championship.

11.10.2 Council may approve the use if all moves in 30 minutes time controls for the Queensland Under 8 Championship

11.10.3 Tournament organisers may elect to use a round robin format if the tournament logistics are suitable.

12. Arbiters

12.1 Arbiters should be Association-approved arbiters

12.2 At least two arbiters should be appointed

13. Tie Breaks

13.1 In the event of a tie between players for any title, the tie should be broken by the following methods in sequence:

13.1.1 Play off using the tournament time controls

13.1.2 Play off using the tournament accelerated time controls

13.1.3 Bucholz score (the sum of the final scores of each player's opponents)

13.1.4 Median Bucholz score (the sum of the final scores of each player's opponents excluding the highest and lowest opponents' scores)

14. Organisers

14.1 Championships shall be organised by:-

14.1.1 an organiser or organising committee appointed by the Council, or

14.1.2 a club, league, group or person submitting an acceptable tender to conduct a championship in accordance with these by-laws and under such financial terms as may be agreed.

15. Voting Rights at General Meetings

No single person may exercise more than three votes at any annual general meeting or special general meeting, other than a delegate or proxy delegate representing a chess club or league which is entitled to more than three votes.