Chess Articles, CRS London Academy, UK Chess News
Chess Rising Stars

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.

Related Post

CRS London Academy
Aug 08, 2024

Regency Chess Company Sponsorship

Chess Rising Stars are delighted to announce that The Regency Chess Company have generously offered to donate us a beautiful wooden chess set from their extensive range.

We are planning to award the set to our ‘2024 Chess Rising Star’. Students will be invited to write a summary of their chess achievements during the year. Then there will be an online vote to decide the winner.

The Regency Chess Company, a specialist chess retailer based in Frome, Somerset also sponsors the annual Frome Chess Congress. Established in 2008, their impressive selection of chess sets includes over three hundred different designs and a multitude of different materials. In addition to chess sets, they offer a range of Backgammon and Mahjong sets.

It is exciting to award such an exquisite prize and we anticipate contributions from many of our students, regardless of their chess level. We will contact parents to advise of this new award. Please do apply, even if you just started learning chess this year! Students will be encouraged to vote for those they feel have made outstanding progress.

Thank you to The Regency Chess Company for their support.

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CRS London Academy
May 03, 2025

5th Chess Rising Stars Grand Prix

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 four rounds of 10+5 and three rounds of 5+3. 

Prizes

Trophies to be awarded in various categories (e.g. Top Girl, Rating prizes and Overall Champion). Your top 6 scores from the 7 Grand Prix events will count towards this.

Noah representing the National Chess Junior Squad in Czechia

Schedule

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

  • 18th May = Grand Prix 2
  • 25th May = Grand Prix 3
  • 8th June = Grand Prix 4
  • 15th June = Grand Prix 5
  • 22nd June = Grand Prix 6
  • 29th June = Grand Prix 7

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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Chess Articles
Feb 11, 2025

Junior Chess Tournaments: A Guide for Parents

English junior chess is something of a patchwork with a wide variety of organisations hosting their own tournaments. At first it can seem disorganised and, for parents, navigating these events can feel a bit overwhelming but our guide will help you get started.

Junior tournaments provide a platform for young players to showcase their chess skills and develop as players. This article will introduce you to the big four national-level competitions. It is designed to help parents identify the junior tournaments that are most beneficial for their children.

Please note that the English Chess Federation Events Calendar provides a full list of tournaments and can be filtered to suit your needs.

Autumn Term

London Junior Chess Championships (LJCC)

– LJCC Qualification Tournaments are suitable for all chess levels.
– The LJCC celebrated its centenary last year, originating in 1924 as the London Boys Championship.
– Titles are awarded for seven age groups, Under 8, Under 10, Under 12, Under 14, Under 16, Under 18 and Under 21.
– To play in the Under 8, Under 10 or Under 12 Finals you must first qualify, either via a qualifying tournament or by rating.
– Qualification is not required for the older age groups.

Spring Term

EJCOA National Youth Championships

– EJCOA Qualification Tournaments are suitable for all chess levels.
– The English Junior Coaches and Organisers Association (EJCOA) National Youth Championships was founded in 2021.
– There are age group categories as follows: Under 8, Under 10, Under 12, Under 14, Under 16, Under 18 and Under 20.
– Finals qualification is obtained either by winning your age section in a Zonal of the EJCOA National Youth Championships or by rating.
– The Final takes place in Nottingham and is ECF graded as well as FIDE rated.

Summer Term

UK Chess Challenge (UKCC)

– UKCC Megafinals are suitable for all chess levels.
– The UKCC is an annual four-stage chess competition for school-age children from the United Kingdom.
– It was created in 1996 and over 40,000 children play in the competition at the school stage, making it one of the largest chess tournaments in the world.
– There is a schools/clubs round (no longer a necessary route to qualify for the Megafinals) followed by Megafinals, Gigafinals and the Terafinal.
– The Terafinal is held at Blenheim Palace with only 60 players qualifying across 5 age categories.

Summer Holidays

British Chess Championships

– More suitable for advanced chess players.
– The first British was held in 1904 and since 1923 there have been sections for juniors.
– The championship venue usually changes every year and has been held in different locations in England, Scotland, Wales and once on the Isle of Man.
– There are age group categories as follows: Under 8, Under 10, Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16.
– The junior age category events are split into standardplay, rapidplay and blitz.

Chess Rising Stars Achievements

Our students have enjoyed many successes in these big four competitions and we have collated some recent articles below:

Double LJCC Champion – 2024
Gold at the EJCOA National Youth Finals – 2024
Bronze Medals at the LJCC Finals – 2023
Chess Rising Stars at the Terafinal – 2023

Further Information

This is the third in our series of informational articles for parents.

ECF Membership: A Guide for Parents
Chess Ratings: A Guide For Parents

We encourage all of our students to participate in chess tournaments suitable for their level. Please drop us an email if we can support you further: london@chessacademy.uk

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