CRS London Academy, UK Chess News
Chess Rising Stars

Launching in January 2025, our new junior chess club will be open to children of all chess levels, ages 7+, with a mixture of chess lessons, friendly games and an internal tournament with plenty of prizes for the winners!

Lessons will be taught by our expert coaches, including FIDE Instructor CM Tom Villiers, who are passionate about developing young talent. We will also support more experienced children who intend to compete in chess tournaments and team matches.

It is exciting to expand our chess club provision and offer an in-person club at a new venue. William Morris House is an 8-minute-walk from South Wimbledon underground station and a 14-minute-walk from Wimbledon station.

Our new junior chess club has limited availability and we will allocate spaces on a first-come, first-served basis via our online form below. Booking is open now and your child can be among the first to join us. Once this club reaches capacity, we will open a waiting list to add a second group.

Register today to secure your child’s spot at Wimbledon Chess Rising Stars.

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CRS London Academy
Jan 06, 2025

4th 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.

The tournaments will alternate between five rounds of 10+5 and seven rounds of 5+3. 

Prizes

Trophies to be awarded in various categories (e.g. Top Girl, Rating prizes and Overall Champion). Your top 5 scores from the 6 Grand Prix events will count towards this.

A selection from the Chess Rising Stars library

Schedule

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

  • 26th January = Warm-Up
  • 2nd February = Grand Prix 1
  • 9th February = Grand Prix 2
  • 16th February = Grand Prix 3
  • 2nd March = Grand Prix 4
  • 9th March = Grand Prix 5
  • 16th March = Grand Prix 6

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
Aug 28, 2023

CRS London Academy hosted its first cross-continental chess teaching collaboration

Chess Rising Stars London Academy had the great pleasure to host its first ever cross-continental chess teaching collaboration on Saturday 26th August. This online event brought us together with the Chess To School initiative for an exciting afternoon of chess.

Chess To School is a non-profit organisation, dedicated to harnessing the power of chess to educate children in the slums and schools of Lagos, Nigeria. Their commitment to equipping underprivileged children with valuable life skills through chess is inspiring to witness and we recommend following their progress.

Photo by @Chesstoschool

WFM Maria Manelidou opened the event by demonstrating one of her own games. The depth of understanding exhibited by the children during the ensuing analysis demonstrated their obvious chess potential.

Following her lesson, the competition came alive in a tightly contested 3v3 match. Excellent sportsmanship was displayed throughout and, despite some unsteady internet connections, we were able to complete a 6-game match.

We are grateful to the Chess To School team for sharing this experience with us. Their enthusiastic participation and shared vision for a better future through chess resonated with us. This event would not have been the success it was without their involvement.

Our gratitude goes out to Chess To School for their enthusiastic involvement. We eagerly await our next encounter!

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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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