CRS London Academy
Chess Rising Stars

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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CRS London Academy
Sep 05, 2025

6th Chess Rising Stars Grand Prix

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.

We have altered the format so there will now be a warm-up in September, followed by weekly Grand Prix events held on Sundays. The tournaments will be 1-hour Arenas at the 5+3 time control. 

Callum representing the National Chess Junior Squad at the Glorney Cup

Schedule

The online chess tournaments will take place on Sundays at 4 pm (GMT) in the Autumn Term 2025:

  • 28th September = Warm-up
  • October, November and December = Weekly Grand Prix Arenas

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.

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CRS London Academy, UK Chess News
Jan 30, 2024

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.

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CRS London Academy, UK Chess News
Feb 25, 2026

Strong Turnout at EJCOA Zonal Wimbledon

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:

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)

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