Chess Rising Stars at the Terafinal

The 2023 Terafinal was held in Blenheim Palace and three Chess Rising Stars students met the high standard necessary to qualify to compete. We are now delighted to report on their successes in this distinguished tournament.

Sheng, Ashwin and Aden are all members of our Elite Online Chess Club. We established this club back in 2021 to support those children who were looking to compete in tournaments and team matches beyond Chess Rising Stars. Their hard work over several years has culminated in this triple achievement.

After a gruelling weekend of 11 rapidplay games, Sheng was crowned the U10 Girls Champion, Ashwin finished in 3rd place overall at U10 and Aden in 7th. We are proud of their efforts and are confident this is just the beginning of their junior chess success.


Our students with their prizes

From an original pool of over 10,000 children across the UK, just 60 had achieved the results necessary to reach the Terafinal. October 2023 marked the first time that Chess Rising Stars students had managed to reach this last stage of the UK Chess Challenge. Good things come in threes!

You can read more about our U10 Girls Terafinal Champion here.

2023 Terafinal Qualifiers – Three Chess Rising Stars in the U10s

Our chess calendar remains busy with the next major tournament already in our sights – the London Junior Chess Championship in December. LJCC Qualification tournaments are being held across the UK and registration is now open. We are confident of building on our Terafinal experience and putting in another strong showing.

Our Rising Star Sheng Lu Wins UK Chess Challenge Terafinal

It is our pleasure to present the UK Chess Challenge U10 Girls Terafinal 2023 Champion, Sheng Lu.

Sheng first joined Chess Rising Stars back in the Summer of 2021 and, through her sustained effort both on and off the board, has made excellent progress. To support her chess development, she has been an active member of our Elite Club Online and received private lessons with us. Notably, Sheng was one of three Chess Rising Stars students to secure a spot in the U10 Terafinal.

Terafinalists and their families in the grounds of Blenheim Palace

The tournament followed a challenging 12-player Round Robin format with 8 boys and 4 girls vying for the titles. Sheng achieved 3.5 points, including a perfect score of 3/3 against the other girls in her section. Sheng’s final round win against her closest rival secured the U10 Girls Champion title.

Chess Rising Stars coaches WFM Maria Manelidou and Chris Russell were in attendance at the Terafinal to provide pre-game preparation and encouragement. We were keen to support our students at this prestigious event. They all competed fiercely and exceeded our expectations!

Chess Rising Stars students and coaches at the Terafinal

Sheng’s journey to the Terafinal reflects her extensive tournament experience, which spans across England, Germany, and the USA. She secured her place as the Top Girl in both the Online Megafinal and Gigafinal and carried this winning momentum into the Terafinal.

At Chess Rising Stars, we are committed to promoting and empowering girls in chess. As part of our ongoing efforts, we will launch a Girls’ Online Chess Club in November 2023. For further details, please refer to our website here.

We are looking forward to finding out what’s next for Sheng!

Sheng before her 7th round game