CRS London Academy, UK Chess News
Chess Rising Stars

We are glad to announce that our 19th Chess Camp in October was successful and very much enjoyed by our students.

We offered a mixture of Chess Lessons, Friendly Games and an Internal Tournament with plenty of Prizes for the Winners!

Prizes were awarded at the end of the camp for the tournament winners, as well as those who showed particular improvement and enthusiasm.


The sessions were delivered by WFM Maria Manelidou, CM Thomas Villiers and Chris Russell.


You are welcome to join our Chess Club which is also held at the same venue of Marlborough Primary School, SW3 3AP.

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CRS London Academy, UK Chess News
Apr 13, 2025

Junior 4NCL Online – Season 11

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.

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CRS London Academy
Aug 19, 2025

Rising Stars Online Chess Club

We are creating a new ‘Rising Stars’ club to upgrade our online chess club provision for the new academic year. This group will be part of our Sunday Online Club programme and act as a feeder for the ever-popular Elite Club. It is designed for juniors who are already competing in local and regional tournaments, to support their preparation and help them to take their next steps.

The Sunday Online Club is already our busiest with three weekly teaching groups. The new Rising Stars Online Club will ensure that children who are looking to one day take part in national or even international-level tournaments receive the knowledge and training that they will need.

EJCOA U12 Boys Champion

Why Choose Chess Rising Stars?

Since 2020, Chess Rising Stars has taught hundreds of children in our online chess clubs. Our global community of chess learners has grown to over 500 members on lichess.

Our expert coaches will offer real-time feedback during our private tournaments and follow this with game analysis. We will support each student in gaining an understanding of their current strengths and weaknesses and how best to train in-between lessons.

Through our strong links with experienced local tournament organisers in the London-area, plus in national championship events, we encourage our students to take part in suitable competitions. We communicate regularly with parents to share these opportunities.

We also offer our students an opportunity to represent the Chess Rising Stars teams in both the J4NCLO and main 4NCLO. You can find out more about this later in the article.

Individual Achievements

Our Elite Club members have succeeded at both the national and international level:

• Double 1st place at the LJCC Finals in the U12 and U14 Major sections.
• 1st place in the U12 Boys category of the EJCOA National Youth Finals.
• Two members were selected for the EPSCA South West England team, plus one for the South East England team, to face Wales.
• Elite Club members reached the Terafinal of the UK Chess Challenge and returned as 3rd and 7th place finishers.

LJCC U14 Major Winner

Elite Club

As the Elite Club moves into its fifth season, we are delighted to announce a new Lead Coach, GM Martin Petrov. Martin has been a popular guest coach since Summer 2024 and we are excited to extend his role. Martin’s lectures have included demonstrating his recent win against GM Alexei Shirov from the Bundesliga and explaining when to apply AlphaZero-inspired plans to push our a- and h-pawns.

This club has a limited number of spaces and these are available by invitation only. From September 2025, students at our new Rising Stars Online Club will be assessed for promotion to the Elite Club at the end of each term.

You can follow our progress through our News, Achievements and Top Students pages.

We always welcome parents contacting us, if you would like your child to be considered for a place in this prestigious group.

Team Achievements

Our strongest juniors represent Chess Rising Stars in two major online team competitions:

• Since registering our first team back in 2022, we have achieved many successes in the J4NCLO and are 7-time Divisional champions and 3-time runners up.
• Back-to-back promotions in the main 4NCLO in 2025: Division 5 runners-up in our first season, followed by winning Division 4.

Chess Rising Stars Representing the National Chess Junior Squad in Frydek-Mistek

Please do consider joining one of Chess Rising Stars’ upgraded Online Chess Clubs when we restart in September 2025!

We look forward to hearing from you and would be happy to help answer any questions you may have.

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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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