THE ENGLISH CHESS CHALLENGE SEMI-FINALS (ECC)
This is tournament was set up in 2001 to provide a tournament of its own type where ALL of CCF’s trainees (plus others who wish to enter) can take part with a properly accountable structure and where no legitimate qualifiers would be excluded from semi-finals and finals they had qualified for. Click the above link to go to the English Chess Challenge home page.

In most cases, pupils will qualify through a competition held in their school during the Spring Term. In addition, the CCF Junior Club runs a qualification event and these 2 open events are there for those at other schools who want the chance to qualify plus anyone that wants a 2nd or 3rd chance. Anyone qualifying twice provides another entry for others (usually players from their own school).

The finals are in age groups with boys and girls split:

UNDER 18 BOYS……..UNDER 18 GIRLS (Years 11-13)
UNDER 15 BOYS……..UNDER 15 GIRLS (Years 9-10)
UNDER 13 BOYS……..UNDER 13 GIRLS (Years 7-8)
UNDER 11 BOYS……..UNDER 11 GIRLS (Year 6)
UNDER 10 BOYS……..UNDER 10 GIRLS (Year 5)
UNDER 09 BOYS……..UNDER 09 GIRLS (Year 4)
UNDER 08 BOYS……..UNDER 08 GIRLS (Year 3)
UNDER 07 BOYS……..UNDER 07 GIRLS (Year 2)
UNDER 06 BOYS……..UNDER 06 GIRLS (Year 1 & below)

* School years are listed as a guide. Those who are not in the year their date of birth should put them in will be adjusted accordingly for the purposes of the competition.

Following the semi-finals in early June, we move onto the finals on the August Bank Holiday Monday.


A 7 round competition open to anyone under 18 on 31 August 2016. Everyone plays in one big section and the leaders boys and girls from each age group will qualify for the semi-finals.
English Chess Challenge Qualifier @ 84-90 Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon
Jan 29 @ 10:45 am – 6:00 pm
Contact: CCF Email: chess@ccfworld.com
Website

UK FIDE Tournaments Registered for 2017

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

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 in this exciting and competitive chance to test your blitz skills.

Mapping your Chess Progress: A Guide to Chess Rising Stars Courses

How to Use Chess Rising Stars Courses to Improve Your Chess


Our comprehensive chess courses serve as the roadmap to chess mastery. Whether you’re a junior or adult improver, our expert coaches are here to guide you with the knowledge and support you will need.

Juniors – In-person


Chess Rising Stars London Academy is creating the ideal environment to help introduce the game to younger children, the
Chelsea Chess Club for 5 to 7 year olds. Your child will discover the joys of learning chess in an interactive and enjoyable setting. We will work together on chess strategy and tactics plus associated skills such as sportsmanship, planning and focus.

Moving forward, our main junior chess club, the Chelsea Chess Club is staffed by 4 expert coaches. The Chess Rising Stars team will ensure that children are grouped with those of a similar age and chess level. We also offer support to more experienced children who are intending to compete in chess tournaments and team matches.

WGM Andreea Navrotescu, Guest coach at the Chelsea Chess Club

Juniors – Online


The
Wednesday Online Club is perfectly suited as an introduction to small-group chess lessons for less experienced children. We would recommend that children are already familiar with how the pieces move, check and checkmate but no further knowledge is required.

The Friday and Sunday Online Clubs offer groups at Beginner and Intermediate/Advanced level. There is a new group exclusively for secondary school chess players aged 11-16 at the Friday Online Club. Chess is gaining popularity in this age range, with students even using it for their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award activity.

In our invitational Elite Online Club, we work together on areas of strategy, tactics and mindset to build the confidence and skills necessary to compete beyond Chess Rising Stars. To support this development, there are regular guest coaching appearances from Grandmasters.

Registration is open for the CRS Christmas Online Tournament 2023

Adult Improvers


Our
Adult Improvers Online Group Classes would be ideal for adult beginners or parents whose children are learning the game. We will work together on the fundamentals of chess strategy and tactics. You will have the chance to try out what you have learned in our private, friendly tournaments.

We offer interactive and engaging private chess lessons online, delivered by our team of experienced coaches. The Chess Rising Stars teachers have been carefully selected and trained by WFM Maria Manelidou and are passionate about sharing their extensive chess knowledge and experience.

If you are keen to compete in OTB or online tournaments, our coaches have supported adult students in their local leagues, tournaments and even internationally. We have helped students to exceed their rating goals by following our individual training plans.

What Next?


If you are embarking on a journey to enhance your chess skills, look no further than Chess Rising Stars courses, meticulously designed to cater to players of all ages and levels.

November News

We are keen to share Chess Rising Stars London Academy’s upcoming Christmas and New Year chess courses with you.

Online Chess Camp

The 24th Chess Rising Stars Camp will be held online between Monday 18th and Wednesday 20th December, 9am – 12 noon. Beginners, intermediate and advanced players are all welcome. Our online holiday camp returns by popular request after the success of our Summer Holiday Online Club. Secure your spot with our Early Bird registration discount.

Christmas Tournament

Embrace the festive spirit with our Christmas Online Chess Tournament on Saturday 9th December from 10:00-12:30 using lichess.org! The tournament will also incorporate our 9th Girls’ Online Chess Tournament. Entry is open to all Chess Rising Stars students, parents, coaches and friends.

Spring Term

Be the first to mark your calendars with the Spring Term dates for all of the Online Chess Clubs and our prestigious Chelsea Chess Club. Chess Rising Stars clubs will have 9 weeks of lessons across the term and a week off for half-term. As usual, spaces are limited across our chess clubs and allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Chess Rising Stars teacher GM Marian Petrov was selected to coach the Bulgarian team at the FIDE World Youth Olympiad tournament in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

Registration is now open for all of these fantastic courses. If you’d like more details, please don’t hesitate to contact us.