Carmen Nigro mastered music, chess and golf

By Janet McGregor
jmac_snippets@hotmail.com

Many would consider themselves lucky if they mastered one thing in life. Carmine Nigro of Peachtree City has a long list of accomplishments that cover a wide-range of areas.

He was an accomplished band leader in the `40s. He had a strong career as a stockbroker. He mastered the game of chess and was Bobby Fischer's only chess teacher. In his mid-40s he mastered the game of golf, becoming a teaching golf pro for Sam Snead's brother, Homer, at his golf range in Miami, Fla.

At 90, Nigro still plays chess daily. Even now, he doesn't play an “average” game — he challenges the chess computer that won the World Computer Chess Tournament in 1985.

Nigro grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. during the big band era. His big brother, Sal, taught him to play the mandolin when he was eight. He enjoyed music so much that he ultimately learned to play the saxophone and the clarinet. Later, he and his brothers started a small band. Possibly at the behest of supportive friends and family, the band was asked to play at a wedding. Unfortunately for the wedding entourage, the band knew how to play only one song, which they played over and over throughout the entire wedding.

Carmine persevered, learned to play a few more songs, and became good enough to support himself and his wife, Anne, and son, Bill, with his music through the mid-'50s.

While music was his focus, another talent soon became a competing interest. Nigro took up chess “quite by chance,” he says. When he was 28, he was a member of the Brooklyn Chess and Checker Club. However, he says, no one played chess — they played cards. One day, a chess grand master visited the club wanting to play chess. With no one to play, he tried his hand at bridge, losing 50 cents to Nigro. He paid him with a chess lesson and told Nigro that someday, he would be a terrific player.

The very next week Nigro was drafted into the Army. Hooked on chess already, he had a difficult time finding someone to play. His wife helped ease the longing somewhat by sending him a chess book on end game strategy. By the end of his three years as an army musician, Nigro had end game strategy down.

In 1944 he was discharged and went home to Brooklyn to find “the real chess club.” He found it, and lost before he ever got to the end game. Not daunted by the loss, he bought a book of chess openings and middle-game play. One year later he was the president of the chess club, the club champion and was teaching others how to play.

He also started another band. Calling himself “Tommy Little,” his orchestra of seven musicians and one female vocalist once attracted a line that wrapped around a city block four times - the largest crowd the Asbury, N. J. hotel had ever seen.

The band did well, but his wife, Anne, encouraged him to find something with a more settled lifestyle, which led Nigro to settle into his “serious” phase and become a stockbroker. He did, however, continue to indulge in his other passion, playing chess.

In 1951, Nigro, then the secretary of the Brooklyn Chess Club, watched a young 9-year-old lose a game of chess to a one-time champion, Max Pavey. Shortly thereafter, Nigro was teaching the future grand master and world champion Bobby Fischer how to play chess. Nigro was the only instructor Fischer ever had.

Fischer was close to the same age as Nigro's son, Bill, who was also being tutored in the game. The two played against each other frequently. Both Nigros note that Fischer was very temperamental, a reputation he later built on during his somewhat stormy chess career.

Bill notes, “Just about every weekend Bobbie would come to our house and spend a day. He was someone who really wanted to learn and wanted to play the game of chess.”

Carmine recalls that he knew Fischer was going to be something special within a month. After a year, Nigro knew Fischer would be a world champion.

Fischer dedicated his book, “Bobby Fischer's Games of Chess,” to Nigro. The dedication reads, “To my chess teacher, Carmine Nigro.” Of Nigro, Fischer said, “Mr. Nigro was possibly not the best player in the world, but he was a very good teacher.”

Enter Nigro's name into any search engine on the Internet, and what pops up are references to Fischer. Nigro has been in Sports Illustrated, the book “Profiles of a Prodigy - The Life and Games of Bobbie Fischer” and many other periodicals and newspaper articles.

Francis, whom he married after his first wife, Anne, died, says of later years, “The reporters used to come to the house all the time.” During World Chess Championships reporters would descend on the couple, asking for insights into the game and strategies.

The family left Fischer, and Brooklyn, behind in 1956, moving to Miami. Soon after the move, Nigro took up a new challenge - golf. Bill states with some pride, “Whatever he sets his mind to do, he becomes the best.”

Nigro was “extremely good” at golf, says Bill. Shortly after learning and mastering the game, Sam Snead's brother Homer asked him to teach at his driving range. Nigro worked as a stockbroker by day and taught golf at night, doing both until he retired in 1965.

After retirement he taught music and chess, “for the fun of it.” In a 1996 article titled “Chairman of the Board,” in The Palm Beach Post, Ron Wiggins wrote, “He is a gentle and patient teacher with an almost Pied Piper appeal to children. But at the chessboard, he is a bloodthirsty warrior. Sit for a few lessons - on life as well as chess - with a master.”

Last year Nigro moved with Francis to Peachtree City to be close to his son, Bill. Bill and his wife, Martha, moved to Peachtree City from the Stone Mountain area in 1986, mainly for the quality of life. The couple have six children. Natalie, the only daughter, lives in Baltimore and is an electrical engineer. Todd is an instructor pilot in the Air Force and is stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Base. Kirk is a financial analyst living in Salt Lake City. Three children are still at home, Ryan, 15, Justin, 13, and Danny, 10.

Bill, who served in the Navy in the Civil Engineer Corps for 20 years, has a thriving business with offices across the country, Redicheck.

Carmine and Francis currently live just a few blocks from Bill and Martha in Peachtree City. When Nigro plays his daily chess game, he overlooks one of Peachtree City's beautiful golf courses. He still has a twinkle in his eye when he tells a story or welcomes friends to his house. His great-grandson is still the recipient of a golfing tip or two. And he still gets enthused when talking about the game of chess or about his musical career. It seems life has been good to Nigro — and he has been good for many lives in return.

Back to the Prime Timers Home Page Back to the Top of the Page