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Open your mind to the 

World Of Chess!

It’s Time to Say Checkmate!

Have your kids play and learn on the chessboard with help from Chess Mentors. We offer chess programs for kids in public, private, and charter schools across Tucson, Arizona. Whether it’s your child’s first time playing or you want to boost their performance, we’ll teach them all they need to know to win the game and in life.

Join the Leaders and Pioneers and Be Part of the Legacy of Chess Mentors.
The Following Schools  Have Chess Programs for Spring 2025. Click Your School for Flier.

Feedback from Kids and Parents

“Coach Steve’s philosophy is to not only teach them about the rules and the sport of chess, but life skills.”

- Christina G.

Steve Ostapuk is the founder and president of Chess Mentors. He has a long history of having a love of chess, playing and coaching the sport since high school. Steve’s chess team during his junior and senior years made it to the Arizona state finals.

 

Steve followed a family tradition of working in the education field. He is a past member of the National Education Association and the Arizona Education Association. Since 2005, he has mentored chess to over 8,500 students in public, private, and charter schools in Arizona. Some of Coach Steve’s students’ accomplishments have included winning a 2014 Kindergarten Arizona State Championship and over a hundred individual and team trophies in the past 15 years.

 

Twenty students have been rated in the top 100 of the USCF scholastic players’ listings. With the current school opening challenges, Steve is now taking advantage of technology to continue offering his chess programs to students.

Biography

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About Us

How We Began 

Chess Mentors is a chess tutoring business founded by Steve Ostapuk in 2005. For more than 15 years, he has been teaching chess to kids from kindergarten to 8th grade. Steve’s passion for educating the youth about chess as an art, science, and sport comes from his experience of playing the game since the 1970s.

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