At Chess Rising Stars, we are thrilled to unveil another exciting course. Starting in November 2023, WFM Maria Manelidou, the Founder and Director of Chess Rising Stars, will teach our new Girls’ Online Chess Club.

Empowering girls in the world of chess has been a central focus for us since Chess Rising Stars was established in 2017. We are dedicated to creating opportunities for girls to not only play but excel in chess, and our new club is a part of this commitment.

We are pleased to announce that our Girls’ Online Chess Club will be free to enter for girls who already have chess lessons with us. For those who are new to Chess Rising Stars, we encourage you to get in touch with us to discover the best way to become a club member.

Since the initial lockdown, we have organised regular Girls’ Online Tournaments, providing girls with valuable competitive experience. The photos displayed on this page capture the prize winners from one of our memorable early events in 2021. These tournaments have steadily gained in popularity and now stand as an integral part of our chess calendar.

The Academy’s new Girls’ Online Club will help students to get ready for their upcoming tournaments. Maria will share her extensive understanding of high stakes chess, as an 8-time Greek National Junior Champion, to ensure the club members are well-prepared both tactically and strategically. 

Our comprehensive Chess Rising Stars teaching programs have consistently delivered the knowledge and support needed to help girls improve their chess. The recent achievement of our student, Sheng, who won the title of U10 Girls Champion at the UK Chess Challenge 2023 Terafinal, serves as a shining example of the success that our students can achieve under the guidance of the Academy’s experienced team of coaches.

We look forward to welcoming more girls to the world of chess!

Our Rising Star Sheng Lu Wins UK Chess Challenge Terafinal

It is our pleasure to present the UK Chess Challenge U10 Girls Terafinal 2023 Champion, Sheng Lu.

Sheng first joined Chess Rising Stars back in the Summer of 2021 and, through her sustained effort both on and off the board, has made excellent progress. To support her chess development, she has been an active member of our Elite Club Online and received private lessons with us. Notably, Sheng was one of three Chess Rising Stars students to secure a spot in the U10 Terafinal.

Terafinalists and their families in the grounds of Blenheim Palace

The tournament followed a challenging 12-player Round Robin format with 8 boys and 4 girls vying for the titles. Sheng achieved 3.5 points, including a perfect score of 3/3 against the other girls in her section. Sheng’s final round win against her closest rival secured the U10 Girls Champion title.

Chess Rising Stars coaches WFM Maria Manelidou and Chris Russell were in attendance at the Terafinal to provide pre-game preparation and encouragement. We were keen to support our students at this prestigious event. They all competed fiercely and exceeded our expectations!

Chess Rising Stars students and coaches at the Terafinal

Sheng’s journey to the Terafinal reflects her extensive tournament experience, which spans across England, Germany, and the USA. She secured her place as the Top Girl in both the Online Megafinal and Gigafinal and carried this winning momentum into the Terafinal.

At Chess Rising Stars, we are committed to promoting and empowering girls in chess. As part of our ongoing efforts, we will launch a Girls’ Online Chess Club in November 2023. For further details, please refer to our website here.

We are looking forward to finding out what’s next for Sheng!

Sheng before her 7th round game

Oct 07, 2023

CRS Academy’s work recognised by the English Chess Federation

This October marked a significant milestone for our Chelsea Chess Club. We established it as our first independent junior chess club back in 2019 and have since grown to welcome over 30 children aged 5-12 each week.

Today the Chelsea Chess Club is one of only eleven junior clubs in the country to be recognised by the ECF Junior Development Pathway initiative.

We are proud to have attained Level 2 Status within the English Chess Federation’s Junior Development Pathway scheme. The recent competitive successes of our students, both individually and in team competitions, and the high quality of our website were highlighted by the ECF as contributing towards our successful application.

            “The English Chess Federation’s Junior Development Pathway is a new initiative by the ECF to create a structured and formal progression plan for junior chess players which incorporates existing coaches, junior clubs, associations and programmes”

ECF Juniors Website, Autumn 2022

This acknowledgment is a testament to the dedication of our coaches, the enthusiasm of our young chess players, and the support of parents within our community.

We are confident that the club’s journey doesn’t end here. We aspire to earn ‘Centre of Excellence’ status and are already working towards it.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed.

Chess Rising Stars Online Grand Prix

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

You can find our free Grand Prix tournaments on our lichess team page this term. Chess Rising Stars students, parents and friends are all welcome to take part.

Each tournament will have 5 rounds of 10+5 and points will be tallied across the 6 Grand Prix events. We have chosen this time control to mimic the playing conditions in the Junior Four Nations Chess League Online (J4NCLO).

Prizes will be awarded based on the number of entries and will be confirmed at a later date. Your top 5 scores from the 6 Grand Prix events will count towards this.

The online chess tournaments will take place on the following Sundays at 4 pm (GMT) in the Spring Term 2024:

28th Jan = Warm-Up

4th Feb = Grand Prix 1

11th Feb = GP 2

25th Feb = GP 3

3rd Mar = GP 4

10th Mar = GP 5

17th Mar = GP 6

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

The Chess Rising Stars London Academy team hope to see many of you there.