Carmine Nigro ( ; January 2, 1910 – August 16, 2001) was former World Champion

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 1 ...

's first

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, from 1951 to 1956.

Biography

"Mr. Nigro was possibly not the best player in the world, but he was a very good teacher." – Bobby Fischer

Nigro was an American chess expert of near

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

strength and an instructor. Nigro was President of the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

Club. This is where he met

and in 1951 became his first chess teacher. Nigro ( rated 2028) hosted Fischer's first chess tournament at his home in 1952. Nigro introduced Fischer to future grandmaster

William Lombardy William James Joseph Lombardy (December 4, 1937 – October 13, 2017) was an American chess grandmaster, chess writer, teacher, and former Catholic priest. He was one of the leading American chess players during the 1950s and 1960s, and a contem ...

, and, starting in September 1954, Lombardy began coaching Fischer in private. In 1956, Nigro moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and became a professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

instructor. He did not give up teaching chess, though, and in 1996 he taught chess at the Meyer Jewish Academy. In 1999, Nigro moved to

Peachtree City, Georgia Peachtree City is the largest city in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 34,364. Peachtree City is located in South Metro Atlanta. Peachtree City is noted for its extensive use o ...

, to be close to his son Bill Nigro. He died in 2001, at the age of 91.

In film

In the 2014 American biographical film ''

Pawn Sacrifice ''Pawn Sacrifice'' is a 2014 American biographical drama film about chess player Bobby Fischer. It follows Fischer's challenge against top Soviet chess grandmasters during the Cold War and culminating in the World Chess Championship 1972 mat ...

'', Carmine Nigro was played by

Conrad Pla Conrad Pla (born October 24, 1966) is a Canadian actor and former professional kickboxer. He is best known for founding Tristar Gym and starring in the Canadian television series ''ReGenesis''. Early life Pla was born in Madrid and moved to Can ...

Notes

References

* * * *McClain, Dylan Loe
"Carmine Nigro, 91, Bobby Fischer's First Chess Teacher"
''New York Times'', 2 September 2001 * *Wall, Bill mentions Nigro (no date)

External links

More Than Just A Golfer
1910 births 2001 deaths American chess players Chess coaches People from Peachtree City, Georgia American golf instructors American people of Italian descent 20th-century American educators 20th-century chess players {{US-chess-bio-stub