How does an author get his inspiration for a book?

‘Kings’ of chess inspire author
By Shannon E. Kolkedy

Some sports enthusiasts may smirk at the idea of competitive chess, but for State College native Michael Weinreb, the topic spiraled into a nonfiction novel.

“The Kings of New York: A Year Among the Geeks, Oddballs, and Geniuses Who Make Up America’s Top High School Chess Team” chronicles the lives of the unlikely heroes who comprise Edward R. Murrow High School’s chess team — a story that Weinreb says “epitomizes that New York City melting pot.”

While working as a sportswriter at Newsday, Weinreb said he one day discovered a press release from chess club adviser Eliot Weiss. When Weinreb picked up the press release, it was the first time he’d heard of Edward R. Murrow High School — a charter school in a Brooklyn neighborhood with strict admissions guidelines but no sports programs.

“It kind of fell into my lap,” Weinreb said of the story. “I thought it was so unusual that I kind of held onto it for a few months, and I felt that I should do something on it.”

Eventually, Weinreb began attending the club’s weekly meetings. There, the stories of Sal Bercys, Alex Lenderman, Shawn Martinez, Oscar Santana, Willy Edgard, Ilya Kotlyanskiy, Dalphe Morantus and Nile Smith — the key players of the team’s 2005 success — began to unfold.

Here is the full story.