John Anthony Curdo

God Bless Mr. Curdo and his friends and family. I took lessons from Mr. Curdo for a few years. He was a wonderful man and a great coach.

Mr Curdo was a gentleman and a great chess player

I am so sorry to hear of John Curdo´s passing. It was such a pleasure to have first met John at Saturday chess tournaments back in the mid 70´s (I was maybe 12 years old) and to have played him twice in the mid 80´s (I am so grateful he still had and kindly shared his copies of the game scores!).

I will remember John as a one-man dynasty of New England chess and exceptional chess player, as much as I will remember him as a calm, cool, gracious man and consummate professional.

John was my Board 1 chess player on my A-team when I ran the Chelmsford Chess Club in 1971-72. I had the pleasure of playing him 7 times in tournament play. I had the pleasure of chatting with him in 2004 in Miami at US Senior Open. You will be missed my friend.

I was very sorry to learn of the passing of John Curdo. It is the end of an era. He was the last of the great regional chess Masters of the 20th century. I personally faced him more than 100 times over the years (losing most of those games) but I was always glad to see him, both at events where I was competing and those I was organizing. He was always courteous and professional - a class act many would do well to emulate. For decades, facing him was a rite of passage for ambitious young players; watching those battles across the years was a delight. I will miss him.

I'm very sorry to hear of John's passing. My deepest condolences to his family. I always enjoyed good conversation with John, he had a lot of great insights about many subjects.

Former chess student,
Mike Bergeron
Ashburnham, MA

The Wachusett Chess Club at Fitchburg State University extends its sincerest condolences to the Curdo family on the passing of what it considers the greatest chess player in New England chess history. John made his mark in the region by winning more chess tournaments than anyone else. His record of tournament victories is viewed as the greatest in the entire United States! His record of Massachusetts state chess championship wins is unparalleled and expected NEVER to be broken. May he rest in peace.