CRS London Academy
Chess Rising Stars

To help prepare our students to compete beyond Chess Rising Stars, we are delighted to announce the return of our Online Grand Prix.

This term, our free Grand Prix tournaments are to be held on our lichess team page. Chess Rising Stars students, parents, and friends are all welcome to take part.

The tournaments will alternate between five rounds of 10+5 and seven rounds of 5+3. 

Prizes

Trophies to be awarded in various categories (e.g. Top Girl, Rating prizes and Overall Champion). Your top 5 scores from the 6 Grand Prix events will count towards this.

A selection from the Chess Rising Stars library

Schedule

The online chess tournaments will take place on Sundays at 4 pm (GMT) in the Spring Term 2025:

  • 26th January = Warm-Up
  • 2nd February = Grand Prix 1
  • 9th February = Grand Prix 2
  • 16th February = Grand Prix 3
  • 2nd March = Grand Prix 4
  • 9th March = Grand Prix 5
  • 16th March = Grand Prix 6

Fair Play

To ensure the integrity of the Chess Rising Stars Online Grand Prix tournaments, we will use the lichess cheat detection system alongside the observation and judgment of our experienced coaching team.

Register Now

Drop us a message on the Chess Rising Stars lichess team page or an email to london@chessacademy.uk to get involved.

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CRS London Academy, UK Chess News
Dec 19, 2023

Bronze Medals at the LJCC Finals

This year’s prestigious London Junior Chess Championships (LJCC) Finals were a successful one for Chess Rising Stars. Our students, Sachin and Ashwin, shared 3rd in the U10 Major with an admirable 5.5/7.

The first weekend of the 2023 LJCC Finals were held at the University of Westminster, Marylebone Hall. Hundreds of chess players of all ages took part, making for an inspiring atmosphere for our young students.

L to R: Chris, Arnav, Sachin and Maria

Sachin and Ashwin are both active members of our Elite Chess Club. We work together on areas of strategy, tactics and mindset to build the confidence and skills necessary to compete beyond Chess Rising Stars.

We are proud to add to our series of individual tournament accomplishments this year, building on the successes the Elite Club students achieved at the UK Chess Challenge Terafinal earlier in the year.

We had 12 current Chess Rising Stars students who met the high standard necessary to qualify for the LJCC Finals. This illustrious tournament has been running for nearly 100 years and provides a first-rate competitive experience for junior chess players.

On Saturday our coaches, Maria and Chris, paid a visit to offer their support and guidance plus drop off some prizes to take home as souvenirs! Tom also set a fine example, competing in the Open tournament and scoring 3.5/4.


The Chess Rising Stars team are looking forward to the upcoming U8 and U12 LJCC Finals later this month. The achievements of Sachin and Ashwin are a shining example of what can be accomplished with the knowledge and support of our experienced coaches.

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CRS London Academy, UK Chess News
Nov 16, 2023

Learn Chess in London

Chess Rising Stars London Academy is creating the ideal new environment to help to introduce chess to younger children. We are delighted to announce that the Chelsea Chess Club for 5 to 7 year olds will start in January 2024.

Benefits abound as your child discovers the joys of learning chess in an interactive and enjoyable setting. No knowledge of chess is required, although we would suggest that without any chess background it would be best to join the club by week 3 of term.


Lessons are shorter than at our original Chelsea Chess Club and will be held in a smaller teaching group. The venue remains at Marlborough Primary School in Chelsea, where we have been based since 2019.

In 2023 the Chelsea Chess Club was recognised at Level 2 within the English Chess Federation’s Junior Development Pathway initiative. We are one of only eleven junior chess clubs across the country to achieve this status.

Once children have mastered the fundamentals of the game, and are feeling more confident about chess, then the Chelsea Chess Club would be the natural next step in their development.

Registration is now open for the Spring Term at the Chelsea Chess Club for 5 to 7 year olds

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Chess Articles, CRS London Academy, UK Chess News
Feb 27, 2024

Breaking Barriers: Growing The Game

The Chess Rising Stars Girls’ Online Chess Club is now into its second term. Supported by lead coach WFM Maria Manelidou, our active community of girls taking part in chess lessons continues to grow.

In its 2019 publication ‘Development of Women’s Chess – Progress Plan’, the English Chess Federation identified that “there will need to be cultural change at all levels of chess in England which will require engagement from clubs, counties, unions, schools and individual members”.

In support of this aim our club is free to enter for girls who already have chess lessons with us.

“Chess has played an important role in my life and I am keen to share that. I moved to Greece when I was a young girl but I didn’t speak any Greek. Joining the local chess club changed my life because chess has its own language. It helped me to make friends and become more confident.”

WFM Maria Manelidou – Founder at Chess Rising Stars London Academy

We are keen to promote and create opportunities for girls to play chess with us. Our Girls’ Chess Club Online is another step in this direction.

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