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
Our Rising Star Sheng Lu Wins UK Chess Challenge 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

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!

Nov 12, 2024

Chess Ratings: A Guide For Parents

Chess ratings can be tricky to navigate with different organisations (ECF and FIDE) and categories (OTB or online, standard, rapid and blitz) so we’re here to help! This guide will give chess parents a feel for how ratings work and advise how to choose suitable tournaments for your children.

Before we continue, it’s important to stress that ratings are only one measure of chess progress. Focusing too closely on rating is likely to have the opposite of the desired effect and may well lower the quality of your child’s chess. Skill development and enjoyment naturally lead to improved ratings over time – play and study regularly and your rating will take care of itself.

Chess Federations

The English Chess Federation (ECF) and World Chess Federation (FIDE) each keep their own separate rating lists. ECF ratings are a good starting point for children and, for more advanced players, FIDE ratings form the basis for chess master titles.

ECF Membership

ECF membership is a must if you want to play rated games. There is free membership available for a child’s first year by selecting the ‘Free Junior Gold’ category. Chess Rising Stars is listed in the Clubs filter and can be selected as a Nominal Club on registration.

ECF Tournament Calendar

The vast majority of UK tournament organisers will list their events on the ECF site. Their tournaments are categorised by ECF and FIDE ratings filters plus for the time control. You can quickly find suitable local tournaments for either age or rating.

When starting out we would recommend contacting the organiser first to check if the tournament is beginner-friendly. For more experienced juniors, have the following prestigious tournaments in mind: Autumn Term = London Junior Chess Championships + Qualifiers, Spring/Summer Terms = UK Chess Challenge & EJCOA National Youth Championships, Summer Holidays = British Junior Chess Championships.

Time Controls

Tournament games can be played at standard/classical (slowest), rapid and blitz (fastest) timings. Typically a standard tournament will take a whole weekend, rapid tournaments will last a day and blitz are for an evening. Junior students tend to start out with rapid events and move to standard when they are more experienced and generally play more slowly. Players will receive separate ratings for each of the above time controls.

ECF Online Ratings

Ratings are further separated into over-the-board (OTB) and online categories. For example, Chess Rising Stars students compete in both the J4NCLO and 4NCLO online team competitions.

Rating Databases

ECF and FIDE ratings are both updated on the 1st of each month. On the databases below you can search by surname, club affiliation or age group:

ECF Rating Database
FIDE Rating Database
Chess Rising Stars Students

Further Questions

Please do drop us an email if we can support you further: london@chessacademy.uk

Mar 14, 2024

Grandmasters are now achieving their Titles at an earlier age than ever

The game of chess is witnessing a fascinating trend. New research by Chess.com shows that grandmasters are now achieving their titles at an earlier age than ever. Will the chess world see 10- or 11-year-olds becoming grandmasters in the next few years?

In the past year, we’ve seen a surge in children scoring extraordinary results. Records that would’ve seemed unbreakable only five to 10 years ago aren’t as shatterproof as we once thought, and it’s just a matter of time until they are broken again. “Child’s play” as some say.

Here are some examples:

The results appear to be a part of a new trend as shown by Chess.com research that looks at the age of players who secure the grandmaster title.

While the average age for players achieving the most prestigious title in chess was 30 between 1975-1979, it dropped to 22.8 between 2020 and 2024. The highest age for a new GM was 32.8 in 1977. More then four decades later, in 2021, the average age is down to a record low of 20.9.

10 players are currently pending approval for the GM title in 2024. The average age is down to 21.4, the second lowest to date.

Article source chess.com

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.

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.

Mapping your Chess Progress: A Guide to Chess Rising Stars Courses

How to Use Chess Rising Stars Courses to Improve Your Chess


Our comprehensive chess courses serve as the roadmap to chess mastery. Whether you’re a junior or adult improver, our expert coaches are here to guide you with the knowledge and support you will need.

Juniors – In-person


Chess Rising Stars London Academy is creating the ideal environment to help introduce the game to younger children, the
Chelsea Chess Club for 5 to 7 year olds. Your child will discover the joys of learning chess in an interactive and enjoyable setting. We will work together on chess strategy and tactics plus associated skills such as sportsmanship, planning and focus.

Moving forward, our main junior chess club, the Chelsea Chess Club is staffed by 4 expert coaches. The Chess Rising Stars team will ensure that children are grouped with those of a similar age and chess level. We also offer support to more experienced children who are intending to compete in chess tournaments and team matches.

WGM Andreea Navrotescu, Guest coach at the Chelsea Chess Club

Juniors – Online


The
Wednesday Online Club is perfectly suited as an introduction to small-group chess lessons for less experienced children. We would recommend that children are already familiar with how the pieces move, check and checkmate but no further knowledge is required.

The Friday and Sunday Online Clubs offer groups at Beginner and Intermediate/Advanced level. There is a new group exclusively for secondary school chess players aged 11-16 at the Friday Online Club. Chess is gaining popularity in this age range, with students even using it for their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award activity.

In our invitational Elite Online Club, we work together on areas of strategy, tactics and mindset to build the confidence and skills necessary to compete beyond Chess Rising Stars. To support this development, there are regular guest coaching appearances from Grandmasters.

Registration is open for the CRS Christmas Online Tournament 2023

Adult Improvers


Our
Adult Improvers Online Group Classes would be ideal for adult beginners or parents whose children are learning the game. We will work together on the fundamentals of chess strategy and tactics. You will have the chance to try out what you have learned in our private, friendly tournaments.

We offer interactive and engaging private chess lessons online, delivered by our team of experienced coaches. The Chess Rising Stars teachers have been carefully selected and trained by WFM Maria Manelidou and are passionate about sharing their extensive chess knowledge and experience.

If you are keen to compete in OTB or online tournaments, our coaches have supported adult students in their local leagues, tournaments and even internationally. We have helped students to exceed their rating goals by following our individual training plans.

What Next?


If you are embarking on a journey to enhance your chess skills, look no further than Chess Rising Stars courses, meticulously designed to cater to players of all ages and levels.

Chess Rising Stars Summer Camp 2021

Our 18th Chess Rising Stars Camp took place at Marlborough Primary School in Chelsea, London. We improved our chess skills together from Monday 23rd to Thursday 26th August 2021.
It was a delight to return to teaching chess camps in-person. Our children (and staff!) had all missed playing and learning chess together over the board.

Our camps are open to children from ages 6 to 14 and of all chess levels so beginners, intermediate and advanced children were all there with us. We split up into two classes for the activities. This helped us to match children with those of a similar level of chess experience and ensure they all made maximum progress.

Lessons had a mixture of chess tuition, mini-games and sportsmanship advice. We also made sure to find time for a break but some of our students just continued to play chess outside!
Each day we finished with several games under tournament conditions. We awarded trophies, medals, toys and certificates to our fantastic students. Particular congratulations go to Brain L., who scored 8 out of 9, and was the overall chess camp champion and Nicolas T., who scored 4.5 out of 9 and won the second group. Hector M. was our most improved player for his 5 consecutive wins to finish the tournament.

The camp was organised and delivered by WFM Maria Manelidou, CM Thomas Villiers and Chris Russell. We had a great time and our students did too.

Our next Chess Rising Stars Camp will be held in October for half-term and we hope to see you there! Please do contact us if you are interested in finding out more.

View more photos of the event