The Gardiner Chess Centre was built at the end of 2002 by Graeme & Wendy Gardiner, in scenic bushland at Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast (Australia), to provide South-East Queensland, and beyond, with a positive chess learning environment for children and enjoyable chess for adults. Graeme is a former president of the Australian Chess Federation and was also the Development Officer of the nearby Somerset College for many years. Wendy worked at the University of Queensland - initially in department of parasitology and then in tropical health.
The Gardiner Chess Centre is one of a new breed of Modern Chess Centres, and contains coaching areas, a chess book and equipment shop, a cafe, internet facilities, a library, a spacious tournament hall equipped with monitors and technology for broadcasting live games online, and an office from which a large chess in schools program is run. Assisted by guest coaches like Grand Master Ian Rogers, it has quickly gathered a highly positive reputation in the international chess community, and is widely considered as a benchmark in chess centre design.