Board and Staff

Below is the list of all current board and staff.

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Todd Guthrie

Executive Director

Todd Guthrie is the new Executive Director for the Madison City Chess League. Mr. Guthrie is a US Chess certified Senior Tournament Director and National Arbiter. He currently serves as Scholastic Vice President for the Alabama Chess Federation. He has served as chief tournament director for local and state chess tournaments in Alabama. He also has worked as a floor tournament director at the National K-12 and National Elementary Championship.

Rosi Rajbhandari

Board Member - President

Rosi Rajbhandari is a software/systems engineer and mother of two passionate chess girls. She believes in the benefits of kids learning chess to help them learn to focus, think ahead, make logical decisions, and build confidence. She joined the Madison City Chess League to promote these benefits to young girls in the Madison community. This is Rosi's second term as MCCL President. She has also served as Secretary and Girls Chess Coordinator.

Cece Syarif

Board Member - Vice President

Cece is a chemical engineer and parent of two chess-loving children. As a woman in STEM, she believes it is important that girls are given opportunities to pursue their interests. "Madison City Chess League (MCCL) is a great organization that promotes chess for girls as young as 4 years old. Children who play chess are proven to have problem solving skills as well as significant improvement in visual memory, attention span, and spatial reasoning ability. More importantly, chess develops life skills such as planning ahead, assessing risks, and seizing opportunities." Cece spent two and a half years and Girls Chess Coordinator before being elected Vice President.

Svitlana Tkach

Board Member - Treasurer

Svitlana and her husband Yaroslav have lived in the Huntsville/Madison area since 2004 when they moved here from Ukraine for Yaroslav’s scientific and engineering work. Both of their boys, Daniel and Andrew, are avid chess enthusiasts and members of their school chess team. They became life members of MCCL in 2019. Svitlana has a degree in economics and a background in banking.

Sarah Barbre

Board Member - Secretary

Sarah has lived in Madison County for most of her life. Her Husband BJ and four children Hannah, Abigail, Franklin, and Clarke all play chess and it’s a favorite family activity. They became life members of MCCL in 2019. Sarah is the Business and Contracts Manager for FreEnt Technologies, Inc.

Sunil Ramegowda

Operations Director

Sunil Ramegowda is a software engineer and chess dad to two students in the Madison City School system. Sunil works as our Operations Director and brings his computer software skills to MCCL. He will help direct our tournament activities both on the floor and in the backroom. He will also serve as webmaster and help us promote our chess program in middle and high school.

Nicole Wall

Marketing Manager

Nicole Wall is the new Marketing Manager for the Madison City Chess League. Nicole and her growing family reside in Madison where they love to try out new restaurants, chase the live music around town, and spend time with their two rescue pups. Nicole’s stepson enjoys the challenge of chess and is excited to teach it to his new baby brother once he is old enough. Nicole is most excited to explore the sport and see how she can serve the MCCL Community!

Will Stevenson

Monday Night Chess Coach

Will Stevenson is coach for the Rainbow Elementary chess team. He also runs our weekly Monday night chess program at Madison Library.

Amber Hopkins

Monday Night and Chess Events Coordinator

Hello! My name is Amber Hopkins, I am very excited to join the Madison Chess League. My family and I moved here from Colorado four years ago. We love living in Madison. I have a middle school daughter who keeps me very busy as her personal taxi driver. When she is at school, I also attend school as a local preschool teacher. In my spare time I enjoy exploring Alabama with my family, playing games, and reading.

Adam Epling

Chess.com Coordinator

Adam is the Chess.com Coordinator for Madison City Chess League. In that role he will be hosting tournaments for the MCCL Club on Chess.com and help grow our club online. He also coaches at Midtown Elementary and is a certified club tournament director. You may also see Adam substituting at Monday Night Chess at the Library when Coach Will is not able to attend.

Jeanne Burch

Administrative Assistant

Jeanne Burch joins MCCL as an administrative assistant. She is a Madison parent of two graduates of Bob Jones High School. Jeanne helps set up and run tournaments, assists the Treasurer in daily bookkeeping and assists the Board as needed.

Justen Alexander

Volunteer Coordinator

Justen has lived in the Madison area for most of her life - attending Discovery Middle and Bob Jones HS. Her three children are enrolled in MCS and have been in the MCCL program since 2018. Justen has volunteered with MCCL in varying capacities over the years, from running the concession stand at tournaments and assisting at Monday night chess, to being the parent sponsor of her school's team. She looks forward to volunteering in a larger role as the Volunteer Coordinator.