Alumni

Christopher Repka 

Title: Grandmaster
Rating: 2514
Country: Slovakia
Degree: B.S.B.A., Finance, General

Chris is a Grandmaster originally from Slovakia, with a motivation to use his skills acquired at Mizzou and during his professional chess career to succeed in the finance industry. He is currently an Investment Research Analyst Assistant at Converge Financial, in Columbia, Missouri.

 

Christopher Repka photo

Josiah Stearman

Title: International Master
Rating: 2479 FIDE
Country: United States
Degree: M.Ed., Math

Accomplishments

  • 2nd Grade National Champion 
  • 4x Grade Level California State Champion 
  • 6x US All-American 
  • 2022 US G60 & G30 National Co-Champion 
  • 2x Member of U16 US Olympiad Team 
  • 4th Place in 2023 American Continental Championship 
  • 2023 World Cup Participant 

 

Josiah Stearman photo

Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova

Title: Women Grandmaster
Rating: 2378
Country: Uzbekistan
Degree: B.S.B.A., Management Emphasis

Accomplishments

  • 10-time winner of Uzbekistan Women's National championship
  • Qualified to the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Chess Championship in 2018
  • Top 30 Women chess players in the world in 2019
  • Rapid & Blitz Midwest Collegiate Women’s Chess Champion in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
  • Silver medal at World Girls Chess Championships in the U-20 age category in 2018
  • 3x Gold Medalist at the Asian Girls U20 Chess Championship, 2015
  • US Women’s Chess Championship Silver medals 2021 and 2023 

“Being part of the Mizzou Chess Team has been a fantastic experience and my teammates who became like my family and were a huge part of my life. We trained, won, lost, laughed and shaped as a person together. As I am talking of fun memories and important achievements, I believe that Mizzou prepared me for a successful future. It was my honor to be a member of the chess team and student of the University of Missouri. My future aspirations are to use my knowledge I gained from school and chess skills from the Mizzou Chess Team to be the best at my field and leave something meaningful and useful to this world behind."

Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova photo