About Us


Alex Stripunsky, Grandmaster

alex stripunsky


Alex is former coach of the US Women's National Team and personal coach to elite young players through the International Master level. Alex has won or tied for first in numerous world-class events, including the US Championship and the World Open. 

Matan Prilleltensky, National Master

matan prilleltensky photo

Matan Prilleltensky discovered his passion for teaching chess while completing a master’s degree in K-5 general and special education 10 years ago. During that time, his work as a student teacher with IS318k was featured in the book “How Children Succeed”, by Paul Tough. Matan’s first classroom job was at NEST+m, a citywide gifted and talented public school in New York City. When Matan was the NEST+m head coach, they won the 2nd grade, K-3, 9th grade, and 10th grade National Championships in just 3 years. Matan later coached at Speyer, an independent gifted and talented school in Manhattan, with similar success. 

The weekend chess program Matan started in Scarsdale, NY has developed two students who qualified to represent the United States at the World Youth, as well as the NY city and state K-1 champions. Matan also recently coached Edgemont High School to the 2019 12th grade National Championship. He views professional development as an excellent tool for all teachers: Matan holds the New York State Gifted & Talented certification, Step 1 certification in the Steps Method, and the FIDE Trainer Certification.

Matan is also a National Master with a peak US Chess rating of 2328 and peak FIDE rating of 2240. He continues to work on his craft and actively compete in tournaments. In high school, Matan won the Tennessee High School State Championship and represented his adopted state in the Denker tournament of State High School Champions at the US Open. Away from chess, Matan loves running, the outdoors, soccer, hockey, and American history. He lives in Pawling, NY, with his wife and dog.