Nievergelt graduated from University of Zurich and in 1956 he defended his thesis Die Rangkorrelation (Rank Correlation) for a Doctor of Philosophy. He worked in the area of business informatics ( a discipline combining information technology, informatics and management concepts) where he developed a system of electronic processing of economic information.
From 1967 to 1971 he worked as an outside lecturer at University of Basel. From 1971 to 1994 he was a Professor for information systems and computer science at the University of St. Gallen. He was also involved in computer science and engaged in predicting the exchange rate using artificial neural network and Artificial intelligence. After his retirement, Nievergelt established second and third homes in Italy and Spain where he was a gifted concert pianist.
In chess his first notable success was at the 1954 Clare Benedict Tournament in Zurich, when he finished a surprising second behind Lothar Schmid and ahead of Max Euwe. He defeated Schmid and drew with Euwe. All together he played in five Clare Benedict Cups (1957, 1959, 1965-1967).
He was co-Champion of Switzerland in 1957. He played for the Swiss national team on two Olympiads: at Amsterdam in 1954 he scored 8-4. Then at Munich, 1958 he scored 6.5-6.5. Nievergelt took part in several strong international chess tournaments. He won the Swiss team championship five times. He founded the Aron Nimzowitsch chess club in Zurich.
In 1964, Nievergelt married Marlies Ehrensperger. They had four daughters who were very successful in their own careers: Caroline (biologist), Christine (teacher), Sabine (teacher) and Susanne (business consultant).
At the age of 89, Erwin Nievergelt passed away in his adopted country of Spain. The following game was played in Spain in the Benidorm Open in 2002. The event drew almost 300 participants and finished with a "Stars Tournament" that saw 12 players in a round robin with a time limit of 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move. Judith Polgar and Ruslan Ponomariov tied for first with Polgare winning the playoff.
[Event "Benidorm (Spain) Open"]
[Site "Benidorm ESP"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Rafael Simon Sanchez"]
[Black "Erwin Nievergelt"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A45"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
{E12: Queen's Indian} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 b6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. c4 e6 5. a3 {Petrosian
first recommended 4.a3 as a way to defend against the Q-Indian, but it wasn't
until Kasparov started playing the Q-Indian that the move became popular. The
idea behind this nifty little move is that it prevents the B from coming to b4
which means white's N can go to c3 with impunity. In this game white ignores
that and allows black to achieve easy equality.} Be7 6. e3 {Try not to go
asleep during the next 20 moves as both sides engage in dull maneuvering.} O-O
7. Bd3 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Nbd2 (9. Nc3 f5 10. Qc2 Nxc3 11. Qxc3 d6 12. Be2 Nd7
13. O-O {equals. Fichtner,K (2084)-Jahn,C (2128) Germany 2000}) 9... f5 10. Qc2
{[%cal Rd2e4]} Nxd2 11. Qxd2 d6 12. Be2 Nd7 13. b4 Nf6 14. Rc1 c5 15. Qb2 Rac8
16. O-O Rfe8 17. Rfd1 e5 18. d5 e4 {White's next move is a small t error. He
maneuvers the N to f4, but he could have done so with the maneuver Ng5-e6-f4
without weakening his K-side with 20.g3.} 19. Nh4 g6 20. g3 Nd7 21. Ng2 Ne5 22.
h4 Qf6 23. Rc2 Rc7 24. Nf4 Bc8 25. Kg2 h6 26. bxc5 Rxc5 27. Rh1 Qf7 {Thus far
black can only lay claim to a slight advantage in the form of pressure on
white's c-Pawn, but now white begins to drift and allows Nievergelt to utilize
the pin on the c-Pawn. White needed to play 28.Rcc1 so that if the c-file gets
opened he can challenge black on the file. But not 28.Rhc1 because white is in
trouble on the K-side.} 28. Qc1 (28. Rhc1 Rf8 29. Qd4 g5 {Black has all the
play.}) 28... Bd7 29. Rc3 {Another inexact move. He needed to get the Q off
the c-file so 29.Qd2 was better.} Rec8 30. Rd1 {After this black switches his
attention to the Q-side and thereby gains contro; of the whole board. White
needed to try 30.a4} b5 {[%mdl 32] Demonstrating the error of white's ways for
the past three moves.} 31. Rd4 g5 {This switching of the attack to the K-side
isn't really necessary. Black is still better, but white gets an opportunity
to defend himself. The straightforward 31...bxc4 would have left white in dire
straits.} 32. hxg5 hxg5 {With his next move white misses his best defensive
opportunity by not playing a P-sac.} 33. Nh3 (33. Ne6 Bxe6 34. dxe6 Qxe6 35.
Qd2 R5c6 36. c5 dxc5 37. Rd5 {Even here white os teo (s down, but at ;east he
has some compensation in the activity of his heavy pieces.}) 33... Qg7 34. Ng1
bxc4 {White is practically in Zugzwang.} 35. f3 Nd3 36. Qd2 Qe5 37. Nh3 {
Nievergelt now finishes up forcefully.} exf3+ 38. Bxf3 g4 39. Ng5 gxf3+ 40.
Nxf3 Qg7 41. Qe2 Bb5 42. Nh4 f4 {Planning his 44th move.} 43. exf4 Re8 44. Re4
{Black's next move is crushing.} Nxf4+ {[%mdl 512] White resigned. The Q is
lost.} 0-1
