Category: UK Chess News

For many young chess players, qualifying for the London Junior Chess Championships (LJCC) Finals is one of the first major milestones in their chess journey. This November, Chess Rising Stars is delighted to host an official LJCC Finals Qualifier in Wimbledon, giving local players the opportunity to compete for a place at one of the most prestigious junior chess events in the country.

What is an LJCC Qualifier?

Founded in 1924, the LJCC has been part of the junior chess calendar for over a century. The event has helped provide a pathway for generations of young players to improve, including some past winners who have even gone on to achieve the Grandmaster title.

Each year the London Junior Chess Championships brings together talented young players across different age categories, with qualifying events held during the Autumn Term for the Finals in December.

For many children, an LJCC qualifier is an exciting introduction to rated tournament chess. It provides the opportunity to meet other young chess players and test their skills in a formal tournament environment.

Chess Rising Stars and the LJCC

Chess Rising Stars has already organised two over-the-board junior tournaments in 2026, both were qualifying events for the EJCOA National Finals.

“It’s a great pleasure for Chess Rising Stars to be selected to organise an LJCC Qualifier and become a small part of such a famous tournament.”
WFM Maria Manelidou

Chess Rising Stars students have achieved many LJCC successes over the years. For example, Aden joined Chess Rising Stars as a 5-year-old back in 2020 and has since progressed through the academy, becoming a member of our Elite Club, where he continues to develop his understanding alongside other ambitious junior players.

Aden has now won the U12 LJCC title once and the U14 LJCC title twice, with his first Under 14 victory coming when he was just 10 years old! We are excited to see whether he can defend his title again in 2026.

Tournament Information

Date: Saturday 7th November
Venue: Everyday Church, Wimbledon, SW19 8LR

The tournament will be overseen by International Arbiter Lance Leslie-Smith, ensuring that games are conducted in accordance with the FIDE Laws of Chess and ECF tournament regulations.

For families who are new to rated chess, our guides to ECF Membership and ECF Ratings help to explain how tournaments work and what players need to do before entering.

“We attend a great many tournaments and I say this without any hesitation: this was by far the best organised we have ever experienced. The care and thought that went into every element was evident and I wanted to make sure that was acknowledged.”
Email feedback from a parent after our 2nd EJCOA Zonal

Please do check out our full tournament guide if you would like register or just find out more.

Back in December, at our Captains Meeting, Chess Rising Stars decided to make a change from our usual online team competitions. We took a break from the J4NCLO for Season 13 and focused instead on our main 4NCLO campaign after our recent promotion to Division 3. So, was it the right decision?

The season was a competitive one from start to finish. We finished 2nd in Pool B, securing our place in the knockout stages on the final day after five match wins and two losses. The semi-final against Dundee City D was also rather dramatic, ending 2-2 before we edged through on a board-count tiebreak.

That result set up a final against Bromley, who had beaten us earlier in the pools. We very much saved our best for last and a convincing 3.5-0.5 victory won us revenge and the Division 3 title!

A huge thank you goes to all of our players who represented the team throughout the season: James, Yuk Hei, Savvas, Alex, Ishaan, and Angelos. Every player contributed important points and supported the team along the way. This success would not have been possible without their efforts.

Division 2 beckons in September!

Picture a room full of young children leaning over chessboards, sharing ideas and learning to think one step ahead. Chess at this age is less about competition and more about discovery. From April 2026, Wimbledon Chess Rising Stars will open a new Sunday club for 5 to 8 year olds taking their first steps into the world of chess.

The club will take place at William Morris House, Wimbledon on Sundays from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. It is specifically tailored for younger children who are new to chess and would benefit from an engaging introduction to the game. No prior knowledge of chess is required. However, to ensure children settle in comfortably and keep pace with the group, we recommend that complete beginners join by week 3 of the term.

Our experienced and enthusiastic coaches specialise in teaching young learners. Children will learn the rules, develop good habits and begin to think strategically in a supportive and encouraging environment. As students gain experience and confidence, we will recommend they progress to our main Wimbledon Rising Stars Club, which runs from 4:00 to 5:30 pm at the same venue.

Wimbledon Chess Rising Stars will be our fourth in-person Chess Rising Stars club and we are excited to bring this opportunity to more families in the area. We look forward to welcoming our newest young players to our chess community this April!

Full details

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:

• Chief Arbiter: IA Adam Raoof
• Deputy Chief Arbiter: WFM Maria Manelidou
• Section Arbiters: Chris Russell, Ryames Chan and CM Thomas Villiers

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)

Chess Rising Stars are hosting our first ever OTB tournament, the EJCOA Zonal Wimbledon, on Saturday 21st February 2026 at the Everyday Church, Wimbledon, SW19 8LR.

We have been preparing throughout 2025: in the Spring three of our coaches completed their ECF Arbiter qualifications. During the Summer, coach Chris achieved his first FIDE International Arbiter norm. Then in the Autumn Term, we introduced ECF rated games at our Chelsea and Wimbledon Clubs and secured our venue for the Zonal next February.

We are looking forward to welcoming children who are keen to qualify for the English Junior Coaches and Organisers Association (EJCOA) National Youth Championships Finals at Nottingham High School in July which is a rare opportunity for UK juniors to compete in a high-level FIDE rated standardplay tournament.

EJCOA Champions

Chess Rising Stars students have already achieved EJCOA success on the national stage with Noah winning the U12 Boys category in 2024 and Silk becoming the U10 Girls champion in 2025. We are excited to see what 2026 will bring!

Register Now

Our website has further information about the EJCOA Zonal Wimbledon, plus the Entry Form, or you can fire us a quick email to london@chessacademy.uk and we would be happy to help.

One of my favourite aphorisms to share with my adult students is borrowed — loosely paraphrased — from GM Ben Finegold: “When kids want to improve at chess, they play a lot of chess and get better; when adults want to improve, they spend most of their time sitting around talking about wanting to improve and asking how they can do so.” This rings uncomfortably true. Adults tend to believe in optimisation, in identifying the most time-efficient, economical route to progress and harvests. And who can blame them? As the faces at the top of the game grow younger year by year, there seems to be an unspoken urgency to compensate for lost time, to wonder where they would have been now had they begun playing as a child. I fell squarely into this trap myself, transfixed by lost opportunities, struggling to look ahead. Never did I entertain, as I binged the entire series of The Queen’s Gambit, the alien idea of myself seated in front of a chessboard among dozens of others — foot tapping against the linoleum floor in a restless rhythm, trembling hand clawing at a pawn with the flick of the wrist. And yet, nearly five years later, I found myself at the Emirates Stadium, competing in the London Chess Classic, in only my second-ever classical tournament.

Playing in the U-2100 Round Robin section, I must admit that I had a wobbly start on the first day. My opponent insisted on a Grünfeld approach with 3…d5, though I had played 3. Nf3 instead of 3. Nc3. Relying on some hazy recollection from my online blitz games, I improvised. I was pleased to find a pawn sacrifice in exchange for my opponent’s Grünfeld bishop in the opening, but a mental lapse soon followed. Despite spotting my opponent’s knight fork, I skipped the first step of my plan and forgot to retreat my rook. I fought on, nevertheless. I reminded myself that a good player doesn’t collapse in frustration over one mistake but instead searches for ways to recover. I trusted that the absence of Black’s dark-square bishop would at least weaken their kingside, which proved to be a correct intuition as my bishop dominated the diagonals and eventually trapped Black’s queen. It was my first FIDE-rated classical victory!

Round 2 marked a quiet shift in my mentality. On our way to the stadium, my colleague and friend — an experienced competitor himself — noticed my nerves. He patted me on the shoulder and offered a simple if not corny piece of advice: the purpose of classical chess is not to obsess over the results, but to play a beautiful game to the best of one’s ability. Forty good moves, he exclaimed, and you should walk away proud.

Then something funny happened during the game. As my opponent and I blitzed out the opening, I intended to play a Neo-Grünfeld against White’s Catalan Opening and reach a symmetrical position. Yet when I was ready to play c6–d5, I suffered from another mental lapse and pushed my d-pawn forward by one square. We had entered the King’s Indian Defence, an opening that I had never seriously attempted. It felt like a terrible joke. I was flabbergasted, eyes wide, heart pounding, stomach turning; my opponent sensed nothing and played on. Numerous thoughts raced through my head… until my colleague’s advice resurfaced. Forty good moves. I composed myself and searched through snippets of memories from playing against the King’s Indian as White, piecing together some chimera of an opening plan. I didn’t play perfectly of course, but I tried more resiliently than ever. Ultimately, I found myself in a slightly better bishop-knight endgame. My opponent offered a draw; I declined. He cracked, and I broke through. I remember signing the scoresheets with a grave expression, my mind still tangled in the endgame. It wasn’t until I was halfway down the stairs that the realisation hit me: I’d won. I broke into an uncontrollable smile.

Over the course of those five days, I noticed certain superstitions quietly attaching themselves to me. I wore the same necklace each day, listened to the same Beatles songs, and ate a Cadbury bar before each game. A week later, I joked with CRS coach Michael about shaving during tournaments being a taboo; he agreed, offering that altering one’s facial hair was a sure way to invite bad luck and shatter a winning streak. I realised then that many players share such ritualistic tendencies. Perhaps it is these irrational, near-absurd aspects that distinguish human players from computers’ cold precision — wandering disoriented through the miasma, but stubbornly braving through.

Round 3 was my proudest game of the tournament sealed with a glamorous finish. Against an extraordinarily resourceful 10-years-old, I played the Catalan and soon had the faint realisation that my opponent did not have a good understanding of the position when she played 4…Bb4+, followed by 5…Bxd2+ instead of 5…Be7, trading off Black’s crucial dark-square bishop. I played 10. a4 with a threat to dislodge her knight on b6, inducing 10…a5. A few moves later, I was staring at the position and contemplating means to exploit my space advantage. Then a memory surfaced: Game 8 of the World Championship match between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi, where Ding made use of his advanced a-pawn and played an unconventionally early rook lift so as to transfer it to the kingside. I felt the devil on my shoulder and couldn’t resist. I played 18. Ra3 (which turned out to be engine-approved!) and intended Rf3 as a follow-up.

As my opponent sank into thought, I strolled around the playing venue and watched from the balcony world-class Grandmasters like Alireza Firouzja and Gawain Jones analysing their games from the Elite section. I felt graced by this ineffable flow of inspiration, as if by proximity and osmosis I had been granted some fleeting inklings of brilliance from those chess colossi. Back at the board, I optimised the placement of my pieces and secured a glorious outpost for my knight on d6. Recognising the a2–g8 diagonal’s significance over the e-file, I sacrificed a rook and unleashed a devastating attack.

I had a lucky head start in Round 4, where I blitzed out a familiar line in the Sicilian Najdorf, confidently following a textbook Fischer game that I’d shown to some of my students. I had a comfortable middlegame, but decided to speed up to apply time pressure while my opponent began to live desperately on increments. It was risky as I did lose some of my advantages, but Black eventually blundered.

Before the final round, my next opponent proposed a draw since I was already leading the group by 1.5 points and would win the tournament regardless. In hindsight, accepting would have been wise, but I was driven by a theatrical instinct — perhaps inherited from my screenwriting background — to finish on a high note (plus, admittedly, I wanted the rating points). I walked into my opponent’s preparation and found myself in a dicey position. I managed to untangle and even win an exchange before growing careless and giving back the material. Fortunately, I retained an edge due to my king’s better activity and converted the rook-and-pawn endgame. It wasn’t perfect, but I finished with a clean 5/5.

Looking back now, I feel equal parts pride and embarrassment. I cringe at missed wins and simple mistakes, yet I can’t deny how proud I am of the result. I also carry a special memory of briefly speaking with GM David Howell, who reminded me that consistency matters more than anything else in one’s improvement. I learnt plenty from this tournament, and as I look ahead to the coming year, I’m no longer feeling that dreaded urgency. I have no doubt that 2000 FIDE Classical is within reach.

Ryames Chan

It’s a Chess Rising Stars Christmas tradition to host a December online tournament on our lichess team page. We are offering the opportunity to play in a fun private tournament with players of all chess levels.

Open to all CRS students, parents and including a special welcome to our friends from the Chess To School initiative in Nigeria, fresh off their Division 3 runners-up finish at the J4NCLO.

We will award prizes for age and rating categories including books trophies and private lessons with our experienced coaches. In previous years, we have received over 30 entrants to this event.

Schedule

The Christmas Online Tournament will take place on Sunday 14th December at 4 pm (GMT).

There will be 9 rounds of 5+3 blitz and we’re expecting to finish between 6 and 7 pm.

Warm-Up

Many of our junior students have qualified for the LJCC Finals later in December and this would be an ideal warm-up tournament for them to compete against other strong, experienced juniors.

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 in this exciting and competitive chance to test your blitz skills.

It’s not every day that after shaking hands at the end of a blitz game, you stand up from the board and nearly faceplant into the two-time World Championship runner-up Ian Nepomniachtchi!

Chess Rising Stars had a unique opportunity to compete in the World Team Championship this month, as it was held at the Novotel London West in Hammersmith.

This was the first time we had competed as ‘Chess Rising Stars’ in an OTB event, having previously only entered online competitions. Our captain, Maria, drew on her experience as a former World School Team Champion and coaches Andreea and Chris were also in the squad. A special thanks to Joel Bird for supporting us with the team entry.

Individual highlights included: Li Wu beating the two-time European Champion Matthias Blübaum (Germany’s #3) with black, FM Zisis Tsaknakis winning against a GM and two IMs in the blitz pool and Chess Rising Stars coach Tom becoming U2200 champion with his Hammersmith team!

Congratulations to the MGD1 team for winning the rapid (especially to Stavroula Tsolakidou, Greek Olympiad board one and former World Junior Champion and coached by CRS’s Savvas as a kid!) and to WR Chess who were the blitz champions.

As we wrapped up the tournament with a celebratory team dinner, we wondered – would we ever get to play in another World Championship? We felt that our best chance lies with our youngest team member, Aden, and we’re committed to doing everything we can to support him in that goal. Aden had an impressive event, even beating the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich in the rapid portion!

If you’re interested in helping your child take the next step in their chess journey, we’d love to welcome you to Chess Rising Stars. Whether your child is brand new to chess or already competing, our coaches are here to help them improve.

Our first ever Chess Rising Stars team didn’t exactly get off to a flying start in 2022. We missed the registration deadline for the J4NCLO and defaulted in Round 1. But the squad bounced back in style, winning six straight matches and the Division!

Over the next six seasons, the CRS squad has expanded from 8 to 26 players, claimed four Divisional titles and built on that momentum by entering five teams in January.

Clean-sweep

Season 11 turned out to be our most successful yet, featuring tight tie-break victories and dominant finals:

Our two Division 3 teams won 11 out of 14 matches between them and CRS4 were champions by just two game points on tie-break over Ojays E.

In Division 2, both CRS2 and CRS3 qualified for the Semi-Finals. CRS3 were able to avenge the loss of CRS2 to win 7-1 against Hilsmark Juniors 1 in the Final.

Clinching the Division 1 title was an especially pleasing result for CRS1, as we recovered from finishing as runners-up behind Rogue Rooks in Season 10!

In other team news, our new 4NCL Online squad (a mix of CRS juniors, parents and coaches) has reached the Division 4 Semi-Finals. This league uses a classical time control and promotion to Division 3 in September promises an even more competitive experience.

If you’re interested in joining a Chess Rising Stars team, do reach out to find out more.

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?

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.

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.

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!