Muswell Hill chess prodigy wins national youth tournament

Sixty of the UK’s brightest young players recently gathered at Blenheim Palace for the Delancey UK Chess Challenge Terafinal

Stanley Badacsonyi, under-18 chess champion

A chess prodigy from Muswell Hill has been crowned under-18s champion at the grand finale of the nation’s largest and longest-running junior chess competition.

Sixty of the UK’s brightest young players recently gathered at Blenheim Palace for the Delancey UK Chess Challenge Terafinal.

Stanley Badacsony from Fortismere School won the under-18 category of the competition.

For Stanley the win completed a hattrick of Terafinal victories, adding to his under-14 titles in 2023 and 2024.

Over two days, players competed across five age categories for the title of 2025 UK Chess Challenge Champion. Games were played on live digital boards, broadcast worldwide via Lichess.org.

Stanley is particularly effective in the faster formats of the game and has defeated many professional grandmasters. He recently represented the ‘English Knightmares’ in the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships in London.

He is a member of the Chess Trust’s accelerator programme, a training programme for elite English junior players. Stanley has represented England in many international tournaments and qualified from the Northern Gigafinal at Wright Robinson College, Manchester.

Founded in 1996, the Delancey UK Chess Challenge has introduced over one million children to competitive chess. More than £5,000 in prizes was awarded, alongside trophies for the top performers and personalised medals for every finalist, celebrating their outstanding achievement in reaching the Terafinal.

Jamie Ritblat, founder and executive chairman of Delancey, said: “The Delancey UK Chess Challenge continues to demonstrate how the power of opportunity and education can help young people realise their potential. Watching these talented players compete with such focus and creativity is truly inspiring.

“Delancey is proud to support a programme that not only celebrates achievement but also helps nurture the next generation of thinkers and leaders.”

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