An article appeared in Newsday on Friday, March 8, 1996 at page A26 entitled "Yoko Ono Gives $2,500 to Strapped City Chess Team." Here are some pertinent quotes from the article:
The widow of slain Beatles star John Lennon wrote out a personal check for $2,500 to the top-rated Edward R. Murrow High School team so it can participate in the state and national championship tournaments. ... The team members, national champs from 1992 to 1994, had given up hope of attending either tournament for lack of funds. Ono, an inveterate chess player, turned the team's blues into rock 'n' roll after reading about its financial woes in the newspaper. "Yoko felt it funny, or ironical, that a school wouldn't have money for something as educational as chess," explained Sam Havattoy, the multimedia artist's assistant. "It's ridiculous. That's the whole point. That's what moved her to respond." Ono ... finds time to play chess virtually every day in her Dakota digs. It relaxes her mind, Havattoy said.
The article goes on to note that the team needed $3,000 to pay for tournament and travel expenses but had only raised $650 before Yoko Ono came to their aid. Murrow High School is in the borough of Brooklyn in the city of New York.