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.

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Chess Articles
Dec 13, 2024

ECF Membership: A Guide for Parents

At Chess Rising Stars, we frequently receive enquiries about English Chess Federation (ECF) membership. To assist parents and new players, we have created this comprehensive guide.

Here you will find everything you need to know about ECF membership, including categories, benefits, common issues, and essential tools.

To register and manage your membership, visit the ECF Just Go portal.

Membership Categories Explained

ECF membership is divided into four categories: Supporter, Bronze, Gold, and Platinum. Below is a summary of the benefits that each offers:

Supporter (£12)

  • Access to ECF online members clubs and events on chess.com and lichess.
  • Free online rating of results in all ECF rated online events.

Bronze (Adults £20, Juniors £6)

  • Free rating of results in club competitions, leagues and county championships.
  • The right to elect representatives to present the views of individual members to the ECF Council.

Gold (Adults £35, Juniors £12)

  • Free rating of results in club competitions, leagues, county championships, congresses and FIDE-rated standard play tournaments.
  • The right to elect representatives to present the views of individual members to the ECF Council.

Platinum (£77)

  • As per Gold plus a print copy of the ECF Yearbook each year.

Currently, juniors can register for their first year for free by selecting the ‘Free Junior Gold’ membership category.

All of the above categories are eligible for the various benefits and discounts available here.

Chess Rising Stars can be selected as your ‘Nominal Club’ and you will appear on our ECF Rating list.

Registering for Tournaments

Many in-person tournaments will have an ECF membership requirement. Alternatively, you will be asked to pay an additional game fee on top of your entry fee.

Each rating database profile will have a membership number and a grading code. When registering for a tournament you will be asked for one or both of these. You can find them either on the ECF Rating Database or through your Just Go account.

ECF membership is also a requirement for rated online team competitions. Chess Rising Stars compete in both the Junior 4 Nations Chess League Online (J4NCLO) and 4NCLO events.

The ECF Rating Database is updated monthly to include results from these events.

Our Chelsea Chess Club reached Level 2 of the ECF Development Pathway scheme

Troubleshooting

When entering tournaments, ensure to provide the exact same spelling of your name and surname. This avoids multiple rating profiles being created. If you have had this problem, then emailing – and requesting a merge will combine the profiles.

If you are adding two or more children to the ECF membership database at this time, make sure you choose a username for each of them in turn, rather than accepting the default (your email address) as each subsequent child added will otherwise trigger a ‘username already in use’ dialogue box.

ECF Tools

Membership Portal
Rating Database
Club Finder
Calendar
Development Pathway

Ready to join the ECF and start playing chess tournaments? Click here to register and explore all the benefits today!

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CRS London Academy, UK Chess News
Feb 25, 2026

Strong Turnout at EJCOA Zonal Wimbledon

The EJCOA Zonal Tournament brought together 74 children aged 6 to 13 for a highly competitive day of chess at the Everyday Church in Wimbledon.

The tournament reached full capacity three weeks in advance (soothing the nerves of the organisers for our first tournament!). The length of the waiting list was clear evidence of the growing enthusiasm for junior competitive chess in London.

For many of the participants it was to be their first experience of an in-person chess tournament. Remarkably, the appeal of the EJCOA National Finals places on offer meant several families travelled more than two hours to attend.

Qualification Pathway

The event served as a qualifying tournament for the English Junior Coaches and Organisers Association (EJCOA) National Youth Championships Finals, to be held at Nottingham High School in July. The EJCOA Finals provide a valuable opportunity for the top young players across the UK to compete in a FIDE-rated standardplay environment.

Experienced Arbiters

On the day, our ECF-qualified team helping the children were:

The additional support of venue helpers Sara and Emilia, ensured a welcoming environment for players and their families.

Sportsmanship

Across the playing hall, concentration was intense and both the standard of play and level of focus were impressive. The section arbiters noted the excellent attitude of the participants throughout the whole day.

Every player received a commemorative Chess Rising Stars pen and a multi-coloured chess piece to keep as a souvenir.

Results

Congratulations to the EJCOA National Finals Qualifiers:

U8 Boy = Ezra C (5/5)
U8 Girl = Aakruthi R (3/5)

U10 Boys = Liantai L & Dias N (4.5/5)
U10 Girl = Lara M (4/5)

U12 Boys = Theodore T & Reidan M (4.5/5)
U12 Girl = Ellene A Z (3/5)

U14 Boy = Fedor B (3/5)

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UK Chess News
Jan 03, 2025

Double LJCC Champion

After what felt like an hour of refreshing our phones, the round 9 pairings were finally published and confirmed our expectations. Aden will have the black pieces against Advait on top board and only a win will be sufficient to share the U12 Major title.

The pair had played to an exciting repetition before Christmas with the same colours, after Aden had sacrificed a Rook to open up Advait’s king. So what will we get this time?

The fearless Rxh3+!!

How Did We Get Here?

We can all agree that any five-year-old who can play chess is undoubtedly impressive! In October 2021, we shared a profile with Aden’s chess journey since joining Chess Rising Stars while he was still in Year 1. Aden has grown up a lot and his chess certainly hasn’t stopped improving.

In the centenary edition of the London Junior Chess Championships (LJCC), the Finals were split over two weekends. Over twenty Chess Rising Stars students attended the U10/U14 weekend in Marylebone. It was a pleasure to visit them all on Saturday and soak up some of the atmosphere.

Aden was playing up 3 age categories in the U14 Major and stormed to 5.5/6 beating four higher rated opponents along the way, for his first national title. A remarkable achievement for the 22nd seed in the tournament.

U14 Major Champion

Round 9

After Christmas it was the U8/U12 weekend in Harrow, which brings us back to Advait v Aden. If Aden felt nervous, he didn’t show it – that was left to the parents and coaches! The opening followed their previous game but mass-exchanges led quickly into an endgame.

A long positional battle ensued but this time Aden came out on top after 88 moves. A well-deserved victory for the new double LJCC champion.

U12 Major Champion

Aden will return to the Elite Club in the Spring Term to resume his training. We are very much looking forward to continuing to work on chess with him!

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