It is restricted to chess players resident in South Africa (although exceptions have been made on occasion) and participation is by invitation only.
CHESSA was formed in 1992, after unification talks between various chess bodies that commenced the previous year.
The 1995 event, the first organised by CHESSA, included titled players from Angola and Zimbabwe and was run on the Swiss system.
Since that date, the tournament has been held on a round-robin basis.
In case of a tie for first place, a playoff match was usually conducted.