CRS Academy's work recognised by the English Chess Federation

Chess Rising StarsOctober 7, 2023

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.

Tags: English Chess Federation

CRS London Academy

Sep 10, 2024

Chess Rising Stars Autumn Grand Prix

Are you ready for an exciting series of online chess tournaments?!

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.

Each tournament will have five rounds of 10+5. We have chosen this time control to mimic the playing conditions in the Junior Four Nations Chess League Online (J4NCLO).

Prizes

Trophies to be awarded in various categories (e.g. Top Girl, Rating prizes and Overall Champion). Your top 5 scores from the 7 Grand Prix events will count towards this.

Please note this a slight change from previous terms, as we are adding an additional tournament due to the longer term.

Chess Rising Stars students and coaches at the 2024 Mind Sports Olympiad

The online chess tournaments will take place on Sundays at 4 pm (GMT) in the Autumn Term 2024.

Tournament Schedule

- 22^nd September = Warm-Up

- 29^th September = Grand Prix 1

- 6^th October = Grand Prix 2

- 13^th October = Grand Prix 3

- 10^th November = Grand Prix 4

- 17^th November = Grand Prix 5

- 24^th November = Grand Prix 6

- 1^st December = 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.

CRS London Academy, UK Chess News

Nov 26, 2025

Christmas Online Tournament 2025

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

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.

CRS London Academy, UK Chess News

Dec 19, 2025

EJCOA Zonal Wimbledon 2026

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.

CRS student, Noah, with his U12 Boys trophy at the 2024 EJCOA Finals

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!