10 straight for Murrow HS

State’s chess kings are from Brooklyn’s Murrow High School for 10th year in a row
BY Veronika Belenkaya
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, March 10th 2009, 4:00 AM

How do they do it?

The legendary chess team at Edward R. Murrow High School is at it again, nabbing its 10th straight New York State championship last week.

Coach Elliot Weiss said he doesn’t stock his team with young Einsteins. The secret to the team’s success is good, old-fashioned practice and the detailed analysis of the game.

“There’s a lot of instruction and practice, practice practice – three hours twice a week. We play one or two tournaments a month and the kids play chess online against other players,” said Weiss, who’s been coaching at Murrow since 1981.

Many of the students on the team of 27 could barely play chess before joining the team.

“Some knew how to move the pieces, but that takes no more than five minutes,” he said. “If you really get into it, within two years, you could be a very strong chess player.”

One such player is Jian Ting Li, who signed on with the team as a freshman with no knowledge of the game. “I didn’t know how to play when I joined,” confessed Li, 18.

Four years later, the senior is one of the team’s top players.

“I won my first competition, first place, in 11th grade,” said Li, crediting his coach with the success. “He goes over our games, every single tournament. He finds mistakes, so we can improve on them. He plays games with us every week; sometimes, he plays eight games simultaneously.”

Weiss’ detailed explanations are what sets the Murrow team apart from other schools.

“You can find the best move and do it, but not always understand why. I explain what’s the theory involved in what you’re trying to do,” Weiss said. “Most of the moves make sense and, if they don’t, I explain why.”

Here is the full article.