Accomplishments

• 1st place First Saturday GM tournament, 2012
• Shared 1-3 places in Sarajevo Open, 2012
• 3rd place Riga Tech University Open, 2013
• World junior champion, 2015
• 3rd place in Rilton Cup, 2017
• 1st place in Biel International Chess Festival Rapid event, 2018 & 2019
• 2nd place in Longtou Cup, Belt and Road Chess Open, 2018
• 1st place in Netanya International Chess Festival, 2019
• 1st place in Moscow Chess Championship, 2020

Bio

World Junior Champion in 2015, GM Mikhail Antipov left a lasting mark at Mizzou with his creative play and deep opening knowledge. He now serves as the head coach of the University of Texas at Dallas chess program, continuing his influence on the next generation of collegiate players.

Bio

International Master and Woman Grandmaster Olga Badelka was part of Mizzou’s early teams, winning a bronze award in the women’s section of the 2020 U.S. Online Collegiate Rapid & Blitz Championships. 
 

Accomplishments

• Gold medal at European Team U14 Championship Rapid, 2015
• Silver medal Individual European Youth Rapid Championship Open Under 18, 2021
• Silver medal Team European Youth Rapid Championship Open Under 18, 2021 on the first board for Serbian Team
• Youngest Serbian Grandmaster ever
• Tied for first place and won Bronze medal at the World Junior Chess Championship, held in Mexico, 2023.

Bio

Serbia’s youngest-ever Grandmaster, GM Luka Budisavljević joined Mizzou in August 2022 and won bronze at the 2023 World Junior Championship, the first medal at that event for a player from present-day Serbia. He was a key member of Mizzou’s 2024 Pan-American Intercollegiate and President’s Cup championship teams and contributed again to the 2026 President’s Cup title. He graduated in 2026 with a BSBA in business administration.

Bio

Romanian-born Ciprian Comsa, a pre-engineering student, was a member of Mizzou’s first team and won the Midwest Amateur (U2000) Collegiate Championship title in 2019. 

Bio

A member of Mizzou’s first team, GM Dmitry Gordievsky of Moscow scored 10 wins and one loss to take the board-two gold medal at the 2019 World Prestigious University Chess invitational in Tianjin, China, where Mizzou won team silver. 

Bio

Alex Kerford served as Team Advisor to the Mizzou Chess Team, bringing his deep involvement in the St. Louis chess and business communities to the program. He graduated from Mizzou in May 2026 with an MS in personal financial planning.

Bio

WGM Beloslava Krasteva won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Junior Girls Championship in Mexico City as a Mizzou freshman, becoming the sixth Bulgarian player to medal at the event.

Accomplishments

• Silver medals in the under 13 age section at the Indian Championship
• Bronze in Asian youth Under 14 Rapid Championship
• State Champion

Bio

India’s 69th Grandmaster, Harshit Raja is celebrated for his enterprising style and fearless sacrifices in decisive moments. His time at Mizzou was marked by critical wins in key matches, helping to cement the team’s position as a national powerhouse. He is currently an integral part of Chessbase India’s commentary team, one of the biggest chess media companies in the world.

Bio

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.

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 

Bio

International Master Josiah Stearman, from Berkeley, California, graduated from Mizzou in December 2023. A former U.S. Junior standout, he qualified for the 2023 FIDE World Cup and earned his GM norms while representing Mizzou at the highest collegiate levels. Now a professional chess player and coach, Stearman continues to compete internationally while also dedicating himself to developing the next generation of American chess talent.

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 

Bio

Born in Uzbekistan, Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova is both a Woman Grandmaster and International Master, and one of the most accomplished women to compete for Mizzou. She graduated in December 2024 after anchoring the team in national championships and representing the program with distinction. A two-time Chess Olympiad veteran, Tokhirjonova has since transitioned into a professional career as both a player and coach, continuing to inspire with her competitive success and dedication to advancing women’s chess.

Accomplishments

• 1st place at the European School Chess Championship – Girls U17, 2013
• 1st place in Aeroflot Open «С», 2015
• 1st place in Moscow Girl Championship U 19 (classic & rapid), 2015
• 5th place in Moscow Open Women, 2016
• 1st place in Stage Cup of Russia Women Satkinskaya Autumn Invitational, 2016
• 2nd place in Moscow Women Championship, 2019

Bio

A steady and precise player, Irina Utyatskaya was a key contributor to Mizzou’s collegiate success during her tenure. Her positional clarity and dependable performances under pressure made her an invaluable part of the team’s competitive core.