Carmine Nigro

Carmine Nigro (/ˈnaɪɡroʊ/ NY-groh; January 2, 1910 – August 16, 2001) was former World Champion Bobby Fischer's first chess teacher, from 1951-1956.^[1][2]

Biography

"Mr. Nigro was possibly not the best player in the world, but he was a very good teacher." – Bobby Fischer^[3]

Nigro was an American chess expert of near master strength and an instructor.^[4] Nigro was President of the Brooklyn Chess Club.^[5] This is where he met Bobby Fischer and in 1951 became his first chess teacher.^[6] Nigro (rated 2028) hosted Fischer's first chess tournament at his home in 1952.^[7]

Nigro introduced Fischer to future grandmaster William Lombardy,^[8] and, starting in September 1954,^[9] Lombardy began coaching Fischer in private.^[10][11][12]

In 1956, Nigro moved to Florida^[13] and became a professional golf 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, 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, Carmine Nigro was played by Conrad Pla.^[14]

Notes

1. Brady 2011, p. 52.
2. "Carmine Nigro, 91, Bobby Fischer's First Chess Teacher". The New York Times. September 2, 2001. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
3. Fischer 1959, p. 2.
4. Brady 2011, p. 20.
5. Brady 2011, p. 18.
6. Brady 2011, p. 20.
7. Brady 2011, p. 21.
8. Lombardy 2011, p. 18.
9. West, Jim (November 22, 2011). ""Understanding Chess" by GM Lombardy, Chess Blog by National Master Jim West". jimwestonchess.blogspot.com. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
10. Lombardy 2011, p. 136.
11. "Bobby Fischer got some of his earliest exposure playing weekend chess at the Brooklyn Central Library and Washington Square Park with his chess coach, William Lombardy, who had an apartment nearby." Sloan & Aravena 2012, p. 4.
12. The oldest known published photograph of Bobby and Bill goes back to 1956 in which they are analyzing at the Manhattan Chess Club. Donaldson & Tangborn 1999, p. 45.
13. "Carmine Nigro, 91, Bobby Fischer's First Chess Teacher". The New York Times. September 2, 2001. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
14. "Pawn Sacrifice". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2015-09-18.

References

• Brady, Frank (2011), Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall – from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness (1st ed.), Crown, ISBN 0-307-46390-7
• Fischer, Bobby (1959), Bobby Fischer's Games of Chess, Simon and Schuster
• Lombardy, William (2011). Understanding Chess: My System, My Games, My Life. Russell Enterprises. ISBN 978-1-93649-022-6.
• McClain, Dylan Loeb "Carmine Nigro, 91, Bobby Fischer's First Chess Teacher", New York Times, 2 September 2001
• Sloan, Peter Julius Aravena; Aravena, Anda (2012). NY Chess Since 1972: A Guide Book Of Places To Go And People You Will See Around NY Chess (Volume 1). CreateSpace. ISBN 1-460961-41-2.
• Wall, Bill "Bobby Fischer (1943-2008)" at the Wayback Machine (archived October 28, 2009) mentions Nigro (no date)

External links

• More Than Just A Golfer