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.

<!--

##############