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Leonard William Barden (born 20 August 1929, in
Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
, London) is an English chess master, writer, broadcaster, journalist, organizer and promoter. The son of a dustman, he was educated at
Whitgift School ("He who perseveres, conquers") , established = , closed = , type = Independent school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head Master , head = Christopher Ramsey , c ...
,
South Croydon South Croydon in south London is the area surrounding the valley south of central Croydon and running as far south as the former Red Deer public house on the Brighton Road. It is bounded by Waddon to the West and Selsdon and Sanderstead to the ...
, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read modern history. He learned to play chess at age 13 while in a school shelter during a
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
German air raid. Within a few years he became one of the country's leading juniors. Anne Sunnucks, ''The Encyclopaedia of Chess'', St. Martin's Press, 1970, p. 20. He represented England in four
Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 an ...
s. Barden played a major role in the rise of English chess from the 1970s. He is a chess columnist for various newspapers. His column in London's ''
Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
'' is the world's longest-running daily chess column by the same author.


Early life

Barden was born on 20 August 1929. His father ran a business which collapsed during the Great Depression and eventually found employment as a dustman. Leonard attended
Whitgift School ("He who perseveres, conquers") , established = , closed = , type = Independent school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head Master , head = Christopher Ramsey , c ...
when it was a
Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
before it reverted to independent status in 1946.


Playing career


Junior results

In 1946, Barden won the British Junior Correspondence Chess Championship, and tied for first place in the London Boys' Championship. The following year he tied for first with Jonathan Penrose in the British Boys' Championship, but lost the playoff.
Harry Golombek Harry Golombek OBE (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995) was a British chess player, chess author, and wartime codebreaker. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948. He was born in Lambeth to ...
, ''Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess'', Crown Publishers, 1977, p. 25. .


British results

Barden finished fourth at
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
in 1951–52. In 1952, he won the
Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignt ...
tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
ahead of the Canadian future grandmaster Daniel Yanofsky. He captained the Oxfordshire team which won the English Counties championship in 1951 and 1952. In the latter year he captained the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
team which won the National Club Championship, and he represented the university in the annual team match against the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
during his years there. In 1953, he won the individual British Lightning Championship (ten seconds a move). The following year, he tied for first with the Belgian grandmaster Albéric O'Kelly de Galway at
Bognor Regis Bognor Regis (), sometimes simply known as Bognor (), is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns i ...
, was joint British champion, with Alan Phillips, and won the Southern Counties Championship. He finished fourth at Hastings 1957–58, ranked by
Chessmetrics Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system. Implementation Chessmetrics is a weighted average of past performance. The score considers a player's win percen ...
as his best statistical performance. In the 1958
British Chess Championship The British Chess Championships are organised by the English Chess Federation. The main tournament incorporates the British Championship, the English Chess Championships and the British Women's Chess Championship so it is possible, although it has ...
, Barden again tied for first, but lost the playoff match to Penrose 1½–3½.


Chess Olympiads

Barden represented England in the Chess Olympiads at
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
1952 (playing fourth board, scoring 2 wins, 5 draws, and 4 losses),
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
1954 (playing first reserve, scoring 1 win, 2 draws, and 4 losses),
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
1960 (first reserve; 4 wins, 4 draws, 2 losses) and Varna 1962 (first reserve; 7 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses). The latter was his best performance by far.


Morphy number

Barden has a Morphy number of 3 by six different routes. He drew with
Jacques Mieses Jacques Mieses (born Jacob Mieses; 27 February 1865 – 23 February 1954) was a German-born British chess player. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. He became a naturalized British ci ...
in the Premier Reserves at
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
1948–49. Mieses drew with Henry Bird in the last round of Hastings 1895, and Bird played a number of games with
Paul Morphy Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and is often considered the unofficial World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he was c ...
in 1858 and 1859. Mieses also beat
Louis Paulsen Louis Paulsen (15 January 1833 in Gut Nassengrund near Blomberg, Principality of Lippe – 18 August 1891) was a German chess player. In the 1860s and 1870s, he was among the top players in the world. He was a younger brother of Wilfried Pa ...
at Breslau 1889. Morphy and Paulsen played at least 11 games against each other in 1857. Barden also played four opponents of James Mortimer: Edward Sergeant,Cross-table of 1948 BCF Premier Tournament
BritBase Chess. Retrieved on 7 October 2019.
Savielly Tartakower, Sir George Thomas, and
Eugene Znosko-Borovsky Eugene Znosko-Borovsky (russian: Евге́ний Алекса́ндрович Зноско-Боро́вский, Yevgeny Alexandrovich Znosko-Borovsky; 16 August 1884 – 31 December 1954) was a Russian chess player, music and drama critic, teache ...
. Mortimer is known to have played Morphy many games in Paris during the 1850s and 1860s.


Chess organisation, broadcasting, writing

In 1964, Barden gave up most competitive chess to devote his time to chess organisation, broadcasting, and writing about the game. He has made invaluable contributions to English chess as a populariser, writer, organiser, fundraiser, and broadcaster. He was controller of the
British Chess Federation The English Chess Federation (ECF) is the governing chess organisation in England. It is affiliated to FIDE. The ECF was formed in 2004 as one of the more localised successors to the British Chess Federation (BCF), an organisation founded in 1904. ...
Grand Prix for many years, having found its first sponsor,
Cutty Sark ''Cutty Sark'' is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period ...
whisky. He was a regular contributor to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's Network Three weekly radio chess programme from 1958 to 1963. His best-known contribution was a consultation game, recorded in 1960 and broadcast in 1961, where he partnered
Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 1 ...
against the English masters Jonathan Penrose and Peter Clarke. This was the only recorded consultation game of Fischer's career. The game, unfinished after eight hours of play, was adjudicated a draw by former world champion
Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...
. Barden gave BBC television commentaries on all the games in the 1972 world championship. From 1973 to 1978 he was co-presenter of BBC2's annual Master Game televised programme.


Chess columns

As of October 2019, his weekly columns have been published in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' for 63 years and in ''
The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' for 44 years. A typical Barden column not only contains a readable tournament report, but is geared toward promoting the game. His ''
London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
'' column began in June 1956, and was published daily, firstly in print and subsequently online, until January 31, 2020. It is by far the world's longest running daily chess column by the same author, the previous record having been set by
George Koltanowski George Koltanowski (also "Georges"; 17 September 1903 – 5 February 2000) was a Belgian-born American chess player, promoter, and writer. He was informally known as "Kolty". Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937 ...
in the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
'': 51 years, 9 months, and 18 days, including posthumous articles. Barden's column ran for 63 years, 7 months and 27 days, which exceeds the world record of 45 years and 240 days (as of 28 February 2019) that
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
recognizes for Lam Shan Muk of Hong Kong, a daily commentator for the
Hong Kong Economic Journal The ''Hong Kong Economic Journal'' (HKEJ). is a Chinese-language daily newspaper published in Hong Kong by the Shun Po Co., Ltd.. Available in both Hong Kong and Macau, the newspaper mainly focuses on economic news and other related, usuall ...
.


Books

Barden has written the following books. * ''A Guide to Chess Openings'' (1957), * ''How Good Is Your Chess?'' (1957), * ''Chess'' (1959), * ''Introduction to Chess Moves and Tactics Simply Explained'' (1959), * ''Modern Chess Miniatures'' (with
Wolfgang Heidenfeld Wolfgang Heidenfeld (; 29 May 1911 – 3 August 1981) was a German chess player and chess composer. Heidenfeld was born in Berlin. He was forced to move from Germany to South Africa in the 1930s because he was a Jew. There, he won the South ...
, 1960), * ''Erevan 1962'' (1963), * ''The Ruy Lopez'' (1963), * ''The Guardian Chess Book'' (1967), * ''An Introduction to Chess'' (1967), * ''The
King's Indian Defence The King's Indian Defence is a common chess opening. It is defined by the following moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 g6 Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6 (the Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3...d5 instead, and is consid ...
'' (1968), * ''Chess: Master the Moves'' (1977), * ''Guide to the Chess Openings'' (with Tim Harding, 1977), * ''Leonard Barden's Chess Puzzle Book'' (1977) (a collection of his ''Evening Standard'' columns), * ''The Master Game'' (with Jeremy James, 1979), * ''How to Play the Endgame in Chess'' (1979), * ''Play Better Chess'' (1980), * ''Batsford Chess Puzzles'' (2002), * ''One Move and You're Dead'' (with Erwin Brecher, 2007).


Role in "English Chess Explosion"

Barden's most important achievement was his key role in the rapid advance of English chess in the 1970s and 1980s from also-rans to Olympiad silver medal winners. His involvement began in 1971 when he noticed that
Tony Miles Anthony John Miles (23 April 1955 – 12 November 2001) was an English chess player and the first Englishman to earn the Grandmaster title. Early and personal life Miles was an only child, born 23 April 1955 in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birming ...
and Michael Stean were both likely contenders for the biennial 1973 world junior (under-20) championship, but that the only way for a country to have two representatives was to host the event. Barden knew the financier Jim Slater, who offered to co-sponsor the event, which was staged at
Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...
. There, Miles and Stean won silver and bronze medals, respectively, and Miles won the title in 1974 when it was changed to an annual contest. Slater also agreed to Barden's proposal that he should finance special coaching by Bob Wade for the five best teenage prospects. They all became grandmasters. In 1972, after Slater had saved the
Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 1 ...
versus Boris Spassky world championship match from collapse by doubling the prize fund, he offered £5,000 to the first English grandmaster (who wound up being Miles), and £2,000 to the next four players to qualify. Barden worked out the detailed terms, and wrote the speech at Hastings where Slater announced the awards. Encouraged by success, Barden and Slater then agreed on a wider programme to stimulate talent at much younger ages, aiming to produce a generation which could compete with the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, the world's leading chess nation. Barden organised weekend junior invitation events at which the best prospects played a tournament and had coaching from masters between games. They were also introduced to top master chess at the annual Evening Standard weekend open and via grandmaster
simultaneous exhibition A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition (commonly chess or Go) in which one player (typically of high rank, such as a grandmaster or dan-level player) plays multiple games at a time with a number of other pl ...
s. The model was the USSR's own programme in the 1930s, when future masters scored impressively in exhibitions against world-class masters
José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Capabl ...
and
Salo Flohr Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournam ...
during the 1935 and 1936
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
tournaments. Very few juniors in the 1970s had international ratings, so Barden compiled his own world ranking lists for every age group from under-18 to under-10, updating the figures at monthly or weekly intervals and posting the results at the invitation events. Barden read much Soviet chess literature, and in 1974 decided that an 11-year-old named Gary Kasparov was a likely future world champion. His ''Guardian'' column of 24 February 1975, headlined "World Champ 1990", made this a specific forecast. It was, by more than a year, the first such prediction by anyone for the future
Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
, who beat Barden's forecast by five years when he won the title in 1985. By summer 1975 Barden believed that
Nigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in the ...
, then aged 9, also had world title potential. The simultaneous programme was intensified for Short, who in the next few years played three world champions and several other top grandmasters. Barden also used his columns to promote his juniors, whom some called "the Barden babes". When Short defeated
Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. H ...
, the world's second strongest active player, in a 1976 Evening Standard simultaneous the result was announced on that evening's ITN news bulletin. One purpose of the publicity was to attract more sponsorship, and in summer 1976 Barden secured backing from
Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...
. The bank's chairman, Sir
Jeremy Morse Sir Christopher Jeremy Morse KCMG (10 December 1928 – 4 February 2016) was an English banker, cruciverbalist and chess composer who was Chancellor of the University of Bristol from 1989 to 2003, and was chairman of Lloyds Bank. Early life ...
, was an eminent chess problemist, and its sponsorship manager, Pat Bowman, liked the concept of the bank financing a serious challenge to Soviet chess supremacy. The first Lloyds Bank event was a pilot, a
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
v
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
telex The telex network is a station-to-station switched network of teleprinters similar to a telephone network, using telegraph-grade connecting circuits for two-way text-based messages. Telex was a major method of sending written messages electroni ...
match, to celebrate the
United States bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...
, in which the American captain agreed to Barden's proposal to include extra under-11 boards, on one of which Short (who lived near
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
) beat the future US champion
Joel Benjamin Joel Lawrence Benjamin (born March 11, 1964) is an American chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). In 1998, he was voted "Grandmaster of the Year" by the U.S. Chess Federation. , his Elo rating was 2506, making him the No ...
. By then many juniors were advancing towards master strength, but lacked official FIDE international ratings and titles. So in 1977 the annual Lloyds Bank Masters in London was launched, modelled on a successful US event at Lone Pine where the best US juniors competed against grandmasters. This legendary Open lasted until 1994 (18th edition, won by Alexander Morozevich). Barden also organised an all-play-all tournament, the Lord John Cup in London, where three young and promising English masters —
John Nunn John Denis Martin Nunn (born 25 April 1955) is an English chess grandmaster, a three-time world champion in chess problem solving, a chess writer and publisher, and a mathematician. He is one of England's strongest chess players and was forme ...
, Michael Stean and Jonathan Mestel — met reputed international grandmasters as
Vlastimil Hort Vlastimil Hort (born 12 January 1944) is a German chess Grandmaster. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the 1977–78 Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship, but never qualified ...
who won this one-off event, Miguel Quinteros, the first winner of the Lloyds Bank Open and joint runner-up at the Lord John Cup,
Eugenio Torre Eugenio "Eugene" Torre (born November 4, 1951) is a Filipino chess player. In 1974, at 22 years old, he became not just the first Filipino but also the first Asian to qualify for the title Grandmaster. Torre did this by winning the silver med ...
, or legendary
Alexander Kotov Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov (Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Ко́тов; – 8 January 1981) was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet chess champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific write ...
. By 1978, when England won the world under-26 championship at
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
ahead of the USSR, and a group financed by Lloyds Bank performed strongly at Lone Pine, the golden generation was on the way to the Olympiad silver medals achieved in 1984, 1986 and 1988. Barden continued to seek new primary school talent, and in 1980 recognised the exceptional promise of the then 8-year-old Michael Adams. Adams lived in
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, far from the major chess centres, so Barden arranged for a Devon organiser, Ken Butt, to stage an annual Lloyds Bank under-18 international tournament in Plymouth. Adams first played there at age 10, and by 12 missed an international master result by only half a point in his Lloyds Bank Masters debut where, in line with Barden's policy of matching the best talents against top grandmasters, he also performed well in a blitz game against Spassky. In 1980, George Low wrote in ''Education'' magazine:
Mr. Leonard Barden, manager of the junior squad, traces the resurgence of interest to media coverage of the Fischer–Spassky duel eight years ago and its sequel between Korchnoi and Karpov six years later.
In about 1972–73, he recalls, the selectors started casting their nets much wider than the Home Counties grammar schools where the recruiting ground had traditionally been. He and his colleagues looked through the results of a lot more tournaments all over the country. Those who had real talent were encouraged to go in for the National Junior Squad Championships and to enter adult tournaments. They were also given the opportunity to play against adult grandmasters in ' simuls' (simultaneous games involving 20 or 30 boards). Mr Barden now has 500 players on his books in whom he takes an active interest, following their tournament games and writing to suggest alternative strategies in their games.
By the 1980s the "English Chess Explosion" was in full swing, but Barden took a lesser role due to having to care for his mother, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He still spotted talents early, notably Matthew Sadler, who debuted in the Lloyds Bank tournament at 11 and became a leading grandmaster in the 1990s. In 1992 when the British Chess Federation was reluctant to send Luke McShane, then 8, to the world under-10 championship in
Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...
, Barden campaigned for a positive outcome which was rewarded when McShane won the gold medal. In 1988–90, he managed the early programme for David Howell, then 8, who at 16 became England's youngest grandmaster. In recognition of his efforts, Barden was offered an OBE, but declined it.
Brian Walden Alastair Brian Walden (8 July 1932 – 9 May 2019) was a British journalist and broadcaster who spent over a decade as a Labour politician and Member of Parliament (MP). He was considered one of the finest political interviewers in the history ...
has written that "Leonard Barden has done more for British chess than anybody since our famous 19th century champion, Howard Staunton."


Chess strength

According to
Chessmetrics Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system. Implementation Chessmetrics is a weighted average of past performance. The score considers a player's win percen ...
, Barden's best single performance was at Hastings 1957–58, where he finished fourth behind
Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...
,
Svetozar Gligorić Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић, 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is consider ...
and
Miroslav Filip Miroslav Filip (27 October 1928 – 27 April 2009) was a Czech chess grandmaster. Filip was awarded the title of International Master in 1953, and the Grandmaster title in 1955. Filip represented Czechoslovakia in 12 consecutive Chess Olympia ...
, scoring 5/9 (56%). At his peak, he was likely at or close to International Master strength, but never formally received this title from FIDE, the World Chess Federation. Chessmetrics assigned Barden a peak retrospective rating of 2497 for January 1958, number 187 in the world. FIDE did not introduce international ratings until 1970, after Barden had virtually stopped competing. However, the Chessmetrics database is missing several of Barden's key results.


Notable games

* Barden has said that "my favourite game" is his win against Weaver Adams (Black) at
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
1950–51: :1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.d4 Bb4+ 7.c3 Be7 8.Nxf7 Kxf7 9.Qf3+ Ke6 10.Qe4 Bf8 11.0-0 Ne7 12.f4 c6 13.fxe5 Kd7 14.Be2 Ke8 15.c4 Nc7 16.Nc3 Be6 17.Bg5 Qd7 18.Rad1 Rc8 19.Bxe7 Qxe7 20.d5 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 cxd5 22.cxd5 Bd7 23.e6 Bb5 24.Qf4 Kd8 25.Bxb5 Nxb5 26.Nxb5 Qxb5 27.d6 1–0 * Here Barden (White) annihilates Jonathan Penrose (Black), who won a famous game against reigning
World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...
the following year, and ultimately won the
British Chess Championship The British Chess Championships are organised by the English Chess Federation. The main tournament incorporates the British Championship, the English Chess Championships and the British Women's Chess Championship so it is possible, although it has ...
a record ten times: :Barden–Penrose, British Championship 1959:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d6 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 Be6 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.Ng5 Bd7 15.Nf1 Rad8 16.Qe2 g6 17.Ne3 Bc8 18.a4 c4 19.axb5 axb5 20.Rd1 Rxd1+ 21.Qxd1 Rd8 22.Qe2 b4 23.Rxa5! Qxa5 24.Qxc4 Rf8 25.Nxf7! Kg7 26.Nf5+! gxf5 27.Bh6+ Kg6 28.Bxf8 Bxf8 29.Nh8+ Kh6 30.Qxc8 Kg7 31.Qe6 Qa1+ 32.Kh2 Qxb2 33.Bb3 h5 34.Qf7+ Kxh8 35.Qxf8+ 1–0 * Young–Barden, correspondence 1945: :1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 cxb5!? 9.Qxa8 Bc5 10.Ne4 Nxe4 11.Qxe4 0-0 12.0-0 Re8 13.Qe2 Bb7 14.Qxb5 Bb6 15.d3 Re6 16.Kh1 Bxg2+ 17.Kxg2 Qa8+ 18.f3 Rg6+ 19.Kh1 Qxf3+ 20.Rxf3 Rg1# 0–1Young–Barden, correspondence 1945
ChessGames.com. Retrieved on 7 October 2019.


References


External links

*
Chess site
including Barden's column, at ''The Guardian'' * http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/jun/28/4

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barden, Leonard 1929 births Living people British chess players People educated at Whitgift School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford English male non-fiction writers British chess writers Chess Olympiad competitors People from Croydon English columnists