It is held with the Swiss system and consists of two divisions, Open and Women's, the latter of which is reserved to female players.
Both sections determine the Asian champions and qualify a certain number of players for the FIDE World Cup and knockout Women's World Chess Championship respectively.
The Championship is regulated by the Asian Chess Federation.
The 2007 championship was a FIDE Zone 3 qualification event for the 2007 Chess World Cup, the next stage in the 2010 World Chess Championship.
[1] Ten players qualified for the 2009 Chess World Cup: Ganguly Surya Shekhar (India), Zhou Weiqi (China), Yu Yangyi (China), Yu Shaoteng (China), Lê Quang Liêm (Vietnam), Rogelio Antonio Jr. (Philippines), Hou Yifan (China), Zhou Jianchao (China), Chanda Sandipan (India), and Sasikiran Krishnan (India).