UK Chess News, World Chess News
Chess Rising Stars

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.

Related Post

UK Chess News
Jun 08, 2024

SW England v Wales – 26th May 2024

Match Report by Noah Bevis

I was really excited to be playing Board 1 for the SW England team in the fixture against Wales. It was my first fixture since being selected to join the England U11 team and it was brilliant to travel to Bristol with Aden, who is also a Chess Rising Star and my best chess friend.

Chris Strong, who is the team captain, met us when we arrived and showed us to our team waiting room where we were given our England t-shirts. I played a few friendly games against Aden and other members of the team to warm up. The atmosphere was quite exciting.

Each player played two standard-play games (60+10). I played Wales’s Boards 1 and 2, and Aden played their Boards 3 and 4 (as he was on Board 3) and our Board 2 played their Boards 1 and 2.

My first game, which was against their Board 1, was very rough as I made a losing mistake around move 20, but thankfully he could not punish my error. After that, it was very smooth for a while. Eventually, he got into time trouble in a complex position and ended up blundering a fork! He realised his mistake immediately and I smoothly converted the winning position that arose after that. Then there was a break between rounds for lunch and we took a whole team photo which was really fun!

I played some more friendlies before going in to Round 2. In this round, I played their Board 2. It was pretty even throughout because we both played very accurately. Like before, this opponent got into big time pressure in a key rook endgame. In the endgame he lacked technique and tried to rush to a draw. He made some poor choices in pivotal moments (admittedly, rook endgames are very hard!) which led to a resignation and that meant 2/2!

The final score overall was 10.5 England – 9.5 Wales in the U11s. Altogether, the day was a big success!

Read More
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!

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.

Read More
CRS London Academy, UK Chess News
Aug 11, 2026

Double British Champion

For most children, the summer holidays are a chance to relax and take it easy. Aden chose a rather more demanding agenda: 30 competitive games of chess in just 9 days!

Aden has returned from the 2026 British Chess Championships as a double British Champion, taking first place in both the Under 12 Standard and Under 12 Rapid tournaments at the University of Warwick.

Aden began by scoring 6.5/7 in the rapidplay section, taking a final round draw to secure the victory outright. He then produced an even more remarkable 7/7 in the standardplay, winning every game to claim a second British title in the same week.

There was plenty more chess to enjoy as Aden also scored 5.5/9 in the Major Open, competing against a much wider and stronger field, and finished 4th in the Under 12 Blitz with 5.5/7. Across his four events, that gave him a mightily impressive 24.5 points from 30 games.

Perhaps fittingly for such an extraordinary week, Aden’s dad told us that it hasn’t quite sunk in for either of them yet. An understandable reaction after finally achieving a goal Aden’s been working towards for years.

The British Chess Championships are one of the highlights of the summer chess calendar, bringing together players of all ages and abilities. This year’s event proved particularly memorable for the Chess Rising Stars community, with Aden becoming the first Chess Rising Stars student to become a British Champion and doing so twice in the same week.

There was also success for one of Aden’s Elite Club coaches, CM Tom Villiers, who finished second in the Major Open with 7.5/9. His tournament included plenty of fine attacking wins alongside some resilient defensive performances. Tom narrowly missed repeating his 2018 Major Open victory, but his performance added another impressive result to an already memorable week.

Aden’s season is not over yet. His next major target is the Terafinal in October, following his victory at the Northern Gigafinal, where he produced another perfect 7/7 score.

For now, though, there is the small matter of taking in what has just happened: two British titles, four tournaments, 24.5/30 overall and a summer holiday that will be difficult to forget. Once it finally sinks in, that is!

Read More