Staff

Tony Rich is the executive director of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis – a destination for chess players, both beginning and advanced, to enjoy a game of skill more than 1,500 years old. He graduated from Missouri University of Science & Technology (formerly the University of Missouri - Rolla) with a BS in Computer Science and has been an avid chess player since his freshman year at Saint John Vianney High School.

In 2009, and again in 2010, Tony was awarded the title of Organizer of the Year by the United States Chess Federation. This national recognition is a testament to the hard work, dedication and leadership he has demonstrated to help make Saint Louis an internationally recognized chess city.

This year, Tony was accepted into the Leadership Saint Louis program, a highly respected and highly competitive leadership development program designed to foster an active and committed base of community ambassadors.

He is a regular contributor to various chess and technical publications, and currently serves on the board of directors of the Missouri Chess Association. In the past, he has served as the vice president of the Missouri Chess Association and has been the editor of the Missouri Chess Bulletin.

Alex Vergilesov

Alex Vergilesov works as the Scholastics Coordinator at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

He graduated from Saint Louis University in 2009 with a degree in history and Russian studies.

Alex moved to Saint Louis in 1998 after spending the first 11 years of his life in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan. He is dedicated to promoting the game of chess to schools across the greater Saint Louis area through flexible, beneficial and inexpensive chess programming.

Alex Vergilesov has been teaching chess since high school, and has taught in dozens of classes from 2002-2010. In December of 2010, Alex was hired to head up the scholastic efforts at the CCSCSL. In the spring of 2011, the CCSCSL scholastics efforts were conducted in more than 35 facilities in Saint Louis, reaching nearly 500 students. The fall 2011 semester is set to accommodate more than 75 facilities with an estimated 1,000 students in the greater Saint Louis area.

Through his scholastic efforts, Alex contributed to the CCSCSL receiving commendations from the USCF, including Chess Club of the Year in 2010, and Chess City of the Year in 2011.

Alex has also been commended by several Saint Louis public school districts for providing after school programming, including the Hazlewood School District, “Inspiring Young Minds” award.

Melissa M. Jones
VP of Development

mjo...@saintlouischessclub.org

Melissa M. Jones joined the World Chess Hall of Fame and the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis as VP–Development in December 2011. Ms. Jones was recently Director of Development for Jazz St. Louis for five years. Under her leadership, the organization increased its contributed income by more than 135% and tripled its number of individual donors.

Ms. Jones has worked in development for the arts, social services, and religious organizations. She previously worked in HR for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri and volunteer management for St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Ms. Jones holds a bachelor of arts in human resource management from Lindenwood University and graduated summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA. She serves on the board of the Spirit of St. Louis (SOS) Women’s Fund, chairing its PR Committee, and is on the board of the St. Louis chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).

Ms. Jones’ husband, Joe, is a Senior VP of Talent Development with Fleishman-Hillard. They have three children.