Defining the world of tomorrow
2024/25 academic year
SPTW Chess Education Programme for Girls
Discover Our New Programme
She Plays To Win is thrilled to introduce our new programme for the 2024/25 academic school year.
For just £30 for the entire school year, all UK girls in Primary and Secondary Schools can join us and receive these fantastic benefits and more:
Access to Training
One year of Chesskid Gold Membership - Sept 2024 through Sept 2025 (valued at around £38 if purchased separately)
Opportunities to win monthly prizes on Chesskid from September 2024 to July 2025
Exciting monthly challenges such as solving puzzles and earning stars on Chesskid
Exclusive entrance to tournaments both online and over-the-board
With Chesskid, our official learning partner, your daughter can earn stars by completing lessons, watching videos, and playing games, all while having fun and developing her chess skills!
Additionally, girls brand new to chess or rated under 1000 on Lichess will have the exclusive opportunity to participate in weekly Zoom sessions with renowned coaches, such as IM Lorin D’Costa, WIM Camelia Ciobanu, and other guest coaches.
Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to help your daughter improve her chess skills and participate in a SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY.
Let’s make chess accessible to all girls and empower more females to succeed in STEM. She Plays To Win - defining the world of tomorrow.
Additional Benefits
Priority pathway to join the She Plays To Win 4NCL Team in the Four Nations Chess League
First access to the ballot for special events such as Simultaneous Exhibitions and other events
Priority access to our first ‘SPTW All Day Soirée’ in March 2025 in Holland Park, Central London
Monthly newsletter with news and announcements of monthly Chesskid prizewinners
Access to the SPTW Members Page with exclusive content added regularly
Enrol NOW to start our BRAND NEW programme in September
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Enrol NOW to start our BRAND NEW programme in September ☆
ENROL TODAY
For just £30 for the entire school year, all UK girls in primary and secondary school can join us and receive these fantastic benefits and more:
More than one daughter? No Problem! Get all the same access to the SPTW Chess Programme by choosing this option for your second child.
This membership is for university, master's, or PhD students, or those eligible for a free package as outlined on our webpage. If you have any questions about the free membership, please contact us. Please include details of how you meet the eligibility criteria in your registration, so we can best support you.
One year of Chesskid Gold Membership included
With Chesskid, our official learning partner, your daughter can earn stars by completing lessons, watching videos, and playing games while developing her chess skills. The more she engages with the platform, the more stars she can earn, making learning chess a fun and rewarding experience.
There will be exciting monthly challenges, such as solving puzzles, earning stars on Chesskid, and many opportunities to win monthly prizes!
The Chesskid Gold membership runs from September 2024 - September 2025.
Introducing the SPTW Pathway
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1 - GAZELLE
Complete beginners or rated 0-1000 on Lichess
We encourage the Gazelles to practice on Chesskid with engaging videos, lessons, playing the bots, and other children on the site.
These girls can win monthly prizes with SPTW for earning stars and solving puzzles.
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2 - Zebra
1000-1600 on Lichess
These players participate in the weekly Wednesday Zebra Training at 6 p.m.
They play one game of 10+5 time control against another player in training, followed by a 6.30 pm Zoom session with IM Lorin D’Costa to analyse the games.
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3 - Leopard
1700+ on Lichess
The Leopard Squad are invited to join Lorin’s mixed-gender 'Eagleide Elite Group' or can work with their own coach. Eagleide Elite Training is on Tuesdays from 6.30-8 pm and includes weekly homework. £250/yr for 30 sessions with an annual discount.
They are also considered to represent the SPTW Falcons and SPTW Kestrels teams in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL).
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4 - Lioness
2100+ on Lichess
The Lioness Squad are offered the chance to represent the SPTW team in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). SPTW is the only ever all-female squad in the competition’s 35-year history.
They are also considered for the SPTW Team in the yearly European Women’s Club Cup.
The Lioness Squad receives elite training throughout the year from top female chess masters.
Gazelles
Our beginners, the Gazelle Squad, are players who are brand new to chess or have a Lichess rating of under 1000. Your daughter doesn’t have to know how to play to join, just the desire to play and learn!
The Gazelles will have the exclusive opportunity to participate in weekly Zoom sessions with renowned coaches such as IM Lorin D’Costa, WIM Camelia Ciobanu, and other special guest coaches.
These sessions will focus on teaching the fundamentals of chess. Additionally, with the support of the Chesskid platform, live training, and our practice tournaments, we are committed to encouraging and nurturing your daughter’s chess development.
Participants will find the dates of the weekly Zoom training on the SPTW calendar on the member’s pages and receive instructions on how to join Zoom after signing up.
The dates for the weekly Gazelle Training Tournaments on Fridays are as follows:
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September 13, 20, 27
October 4, 11, 18
November 8, 15, 22, 29
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January 10, 17, 24, 31
February 7, 14, 28
March 7, 14, 21
April 25
May 2, 9, 16, 23
June 6, 13, 20, 27
July 4
Zebras
The Zebra Squad, our intermediate group, is open to players with ratings ranging from 1000 to 1600 on Lichess. The Zebras will have access to 30 coaching sessions throughout the academic school year, all of which will be held on Wednesdays. Each session will start with a practice game at 6 pm, followed by a game analysis of all games via a screen share on Zoom by IM Lorin D’Costa at 6:30 pm. This personalised game analysis will help players discover new strategies and techniques based on their individual playing styles.
Participants will find the dates of the monthly Zoom training on the SPTW calendar and receive instructions on how to join Zoom after signing up.
The schedule for Zebra practice and game analysis on Wednesdays is as follows:
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September 11, 18, 25
October 2, 9, 16
November 6, 13, 20, 27
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January 15, 22, 29
February 5, 12, 26
March 5, 12, 19, 26
April 30
May 7, 14, 21
June 4, 11, 18, 25
July 2, 9
SPTW is dedicated to the advanced squads, the Leopards and Lionesses. We offer placement on the 4NCL teams, elite training sessions with top female masters, elite tournaments, and more.
We have outlined this pathway for She Plays To Win, but girls on the fringes of the groups can apply to progress.
SPTW MULTI-STAGE COMPETITION
Announcing our new annual multi-stage competition from She Plays To Win!
The competition begins in September with online qualifiers. Girls who qualify will move on to the Enyo Semi-finals, which will be held online in January and February. The top players from the semi-finals will earn an invitation to our biggest tournament of the year, the Athena Finals. This in-person tournament is open to all qualifying girls.
Players with a FIDE standard rating of 1600+ do not need to qualify to participate in the Athena Finals. They will be invited to the SPTW Heroes Cup, a two-day FIDE-rated event that will run alongside the Athena Finals.
Another benefit of joining the program? There are no extra fees associated with any of the tournaments.
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March 2025
80 girls who qualified via both Enyo Semi-Finals will be invited
Plus, 10 primary & 10 secondary winners from the SPTW Girls Schools Online Leagues will qualify to play in our most elite tournament of the year.
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January & February 2025
The qualifiers will play in either Enyo Semi-Final 1 or Enyo Semi-Final 2.
The girls will compete in a single category, and the top 40 participants will advance to the Athena Finals.
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September - December 2024
This will be the first round of our multi-stage competition. All girls who have joined can compete in one of the four Ismini Qualifiers.
There are two tournaments: Primary (U11) and Secondary (U18).
A score of 3/6 in any qualifier grants entry to the Enyo Semi-Finals.
THE RULES
Only girls who have joined the package may participate. There are no further entry fees for Ismini, Enyo or Athena Tournaments.
Once you qualify from any Ismini qualifier, you go through to the Enyo Semi-Finals—you don’t play again.
Details will be sent to the qualifiers for the Enyo Semi-Final.
If you don’t make the top 40 in Semi-Final 1, you may participate in Semi-Final 2.
If you qualify for the Athena Finals, you do not play Semi-Final 2.
Athena Final qualifiers will be sent details after Semi-Final 2.
Donate My Gold
She Plays To Win is for EVERY UK girl regardless of location in the UK or socio-economic background.
Girls who sign up for the SPTW package and do not wish to use their Chesskid Gold Membership can donate this to another girl via our ‘Donate My Gold’ scheme.
Parents/carers who attend our online webinar on Friday, 4th October, with their girls will receive these gold memberships under our scheme to help those eligible for our free package.
Please scroll down to check your eligibility for this scheme.
Meet our Coaches
Our chess coaches are highly skilled chess masters with extensive experience working with young people. With this experience, they understand the fundamentals of practical training and creating a fun atmosphere.
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International MasterFounder of She Plays To Win
Lorin coaches chess full-time in London schools, has coached the England women's team at the Olympiads four times, and has coached the European team championships.
Lorin consistently coaches the SPTW girls, starting from the beginner Zebra Squad all the way up to the Lionesses!
You can read more about Lorin here.
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Woman International Master
She Plays to Win is proud to provide girls with the opportunity to receive one-on-one coaching from top female coaches.
Woman International Master Camelia Ciobanu offers these lessons regularly and has worked with many SPTW girls in previous years. You can view her profile here:
For all inquiries regarding additional training, please contact SPTW.
FAQs
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No, any girl currently studying an undergraduate, master’s, PhD course, or a recent graduate under 28 does not need to purchase a package to get involved with SPTW.
However, they need to complete the form to indicate whether they want to participate in any events or training.
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No, Chesskid is designed with younger and older kids in mind. Whether she is 4 or 14, she can benefit from suitable content, including favourites such as puzzles, game analysis, and much more.
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No, Chesskid is rich with tools for all levels of chess. There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, which are regularly updated with new features added. Here is a guide to the Chesskid features.
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The charge will still be £30, but you are welcome to donate your Chesskid Gold membership via our ‘Donate my Gold’ plan.
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We ask all parents to apply in confidence. Offering all girls the chance to get involved with SPTW to learn, play, and benefit from chess is SPTW’s primary mission statement.
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No problem! Please get in touch by clicking here, and we will be happy to help.
Free Package Eligibility
She Plays To Win is for EVERY UK girl regardless of location in the UK or socio-economic background. To help with this, SPTW provides eligible girls with a free package. We kindly ask parents to apply in confidence.
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Girls in receipt of, or whose parents/carers receive, one or more of the following benefits:
• Universal Credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400, as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods)
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guarantee element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
