The Doeberl Cup is an annual chess tournament held in Canberra, Australia. It has been held every year since 1963 (apart from 2020) and is the longest running weekend chess event in Australia.[1] Since its inception the event has grown both larger and stronger, and often attracts more players than the Australian Chess Championships.
The tournament is held each year over Easter. The tournament runs in 4 sections, with the top section known as the Doeberl Cup Premier. Grandmaster Ian Rogers holds the record for the most wins (either outright or on tie-break) with 12.[1]
The Doeberl Cup was named after its primary sponsor, Erich Doeberl, and, after a pause following Doeberl's death, in recent years sponsorship has continued through his daughter Rosemary.
Building contractor and chess enthusiast Erich Doeberl was born in Austria but came to Australia in 1955. In 1963, Doeberl’s friend, colleague and fellow chess player Toni Wiedenhofer approached him with the idea of a weekend chess tournament in Canberra offering a prize fund to attract strong interstate players.[2] Doeberl agreed to donate £100 and the tournament was publicised in national magazine Chess World.[3]
The inaugural tournament was held that year at the Australian National University. 29 players entered and the prize fund was £100. The seven-round event was won by John Purdy with a perfect score of seven wins, zero draws and zero losses.[3]
By 1970, the Doeberl Cup was established as the country’s leading weekend tournament and tournament entries steadily rose. The following decades saw further growth under the continued sponsorship of Erich Doeberl, who was in 1991 awarded a Special Appreciation Award by the Australian Chess Federation for his contributions to chess.[3]
In 2023, 403 players participated in the tournament, a participation record.[4]
The tournament is separated into various sections by rating. The highest section, the Doeberl Cup Premier, is open to players with an ACF or FIDE rating of 1900 or above and is a nine-round tournament played over five days with a 90+30 time control (90 minutes for each player and 30 seconds of increment for each move made).[5]
All players are Australian unless indicated otherwise. With the exceptions of 1970 and 2005, only outright winners or winners on tie-break are listed.
Lloyd Fell played in every Doeberl Cup from its inception in 1963 until 2008.[7][3]
