The grand old man of chess journalism | thearticle

Leonard Barden, the world’s longest-serving chess journalist, recently celebrated his 94th birthday. He was born Leonard William Barden in Croydon, London on August 20th 1929. He was joint

British Champion in 1954 and was 1st= in 1958 but lost to Penrose in the play-off. In 1952 he was 1st at Paignton, ahead of Grandmaster Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, and at Bognor 1954 he was

1st= with Grandmaster Alberic O’Kelly de Galway. At Hastings 1957-58 he finished fourth, behind three leading grandmasters from the eastern bloc: Keres, Gligoric and Filip. At that time he

was at least International Master strength, but was never awarded the title. He represented the British Chess Federation in four Olympiads between 1952 and 1962, but then shifted his

emphasis to writing, grading and junior chess. In 1956 Barden became — and still remains, 67 years later — chess correspondent for the _Guardian, _which had only just ceased to be the

_Manchester Guardian_ in 1959. His _Evening Standard _column, begun in the same year, ran for more than 63 years and holds the world record for the longest-running daily chess column by a

single writer. He has also authored a number of highly entertaining popular chess books. Unlike others of his generation, Len had more or less given up competitive chess after an unfortunate

performance at Hastings 1961/1962 — that is, apart from his swansong in early 1962, when he utterly demolished me in a simultaneous display. I had earned my slot in the simul by coming

second in the London under-14 championship. Len hardly paused for thought after the opening moves 1. Nc3 Nf6 2. e4 d5 3. e5 d4 4. exf6 dxc3 5.  bxc3 gxf6 6. Qh5 and Len never looked back.

Then he gave up tournament chess to concentrate on his journalism. Although I played many games against Len’s contemporaries, such as Jonathan Penrose, Peter Clarke, John Littlewood, Mike

Franklin, Bob Wade (thirteen wins to me, two losses, I mention immodestly), Len remained an elusive figure. He was largely noted for his enthusiastic encouragement of the financier Jim

Slater (who famously saved the Fischer-Spassky world championship match in 1972), and for promoting and tracking promising British juniors in his _Evening Standard_, _Financial Times_ and

_Guardian_ chess columns. Then, in 1969, to considerable fanfare, Len, like a Phoenix, burst onto the now thriving UK weekend tournament circuit. The emergence of such a celebrated

quasi-veteran British champion was a sensational occurrence. The openings theorist, author, journalist, promoter of tournaments and enthuser of sponsors (such as Sir Jeremy Morse of Lloyds

Bank) was a larger-than-life figure. Everywhere you looked in British chess, the giant handprint of Len Barden was to be found. But had he lost his over the board sparkle? Not a bit of it!

In the final round of the 1969 Glasgow International, Len was leading, but we still had to play our game. After a mighty struggle I managed to avenge my rout in Len’s simul from seven years

earlier. Our paths crossed again at the Hammersmith Open in 1974, when Len adjudicated my victory in a last round unfinished game against Jon Speelman, again guaranteeing me 1st place in the

tournament. It was a controversial decision from a position which hinted strongly towards a draw. Of course, that was in the Cretaceous period, when adjudications were still the approved

way of deciding unfinished games. Finally, when it came to the distribution of the munificent Slater prizes for Britain’s first Grandmasters, Len came to my rescue. He proved to the

Committee that my rating was also sufficient to earn the £2500 prize, as well as my acquisition of the GM title at the Haifa 1976 Olympiad. In conclusion, Len is ubiquitous, Len is a

survivor and Len possesses that quintessential instinct for a journalistic story, which marks him out as the world’s longest serving and most widely read chronicler of the royal game. Our

featured game demonstrates how Len wrought an exemplary win and comprehensive revenge, over his arch-rival from the 1958 Hastings tournament, the record-breaking ten-time British Champion,

Jonathan Penrose, in the following year’s British Championship. The game is analysed below, but for those who just wish to play through this delight, as always, the link follows. Leonard

Barden vs. Jonathan Penrose British Championship (1959), York ENG, rd. 3, Aug-12 1.E4 E5 2. NF3 NC6 3. BB5 A6 4. BA4 NF6 5. O-O BE7 6. RE1 B5 7. BB3 O-O This early castling (the standard

continuation is 7… d6) threatens the dreaded Marshall Attack, characterised by 8. c3 d5!?. Barden does not shrink from that possibility. 8.C3 D6 9. H3 NA5 10. BC2 C5 11. D4 QC7 12. NBD2 BE6

13. DXE5 DXE5 14. NG5 A move championed by the great Isaak Boleslawsky, who used this line extensively, and in particular against Evgenny Zagoriansky during the 1940’s. 14… BD7 15. NF1 RAD8

TN  Penrose’s novelty. Previously, 15… h6 had been the theoretical line. 16.QE2 G6 17. NE3 BC8 18. A4 C4 19. AXB5 AXB5 20. RD1 Perhaps re-routing the knight was marginally preferable, with

20. Nf3. 20… RXD1+ 21. QXD1 RD8 22. QE2 The engines prefer 22. Qf3 when, if 22… h6? 23. Nd5 threatens to win the f6 knight. 22… B4 This delivers White a slight advantage. Preferable were

either, a) 22… Bb7, or b) …Kg7, both of which enable Black to maintain an equal position. 23.RXA5!! This brilliant exchange sacrifice demolishes Black’s position with venom. 23… QXA5 24.

QXC4 RF8 25. NXF7 KG7 26. NF5+ GXF5 26… Bxf5 is even worse. After 27. Bh6+ Kg8 28. Nxe5+ Kh8 29. Nf7+ Kg8 30. Ng5+ Kh8 (30… Nd5 31. exf5 Qc5 32. Qxc5 Bxc5 33. Bxf8 Bxf8 34. Bb3) 31. Bxf8

Bxf8 32. exf5 Qa1+ 33. Kh2 Qa7 34. Qf4, White is close to winning. 27.BH6+ KG6 Certainly not 27… Kg8 28. Nd6+ Nd5 29. Nxc8  Bf6 (29… Qc5 30. Qxd5+ Kh8 31. Nxe7 Qxe7 32. Bxf8 Qxf8 33. Qxe5+)

30. exd5 Qd8 31. d6+ Kh8 32. d7 Bg7 33. Bxg7+ Kxg7 34. Qd5 bxc3 35. Qxe5+, when White is winning. 28.BXF8!? Even more powerful was 28. exf5+ Bxf5 (28… Kh5?? 29. Bd1+ Ng4 30. Qxg4 checkmate)

29. Bxf8 Bxf8 30. Nh8+ Kg5 31. h4+ Kh6 32. Bxf5 Qc5 33. Nf7+ Kg7 34. Qxc5 bxc5 35. cxb4 Bxb4 36. Nxe5, and again, White is winning. 28… BXF8 29. NH8+?! A mistake in concluding the contest.

Unequivocally conclusive was, 29. cxb4 Qa1+ 30. Kh2 Qxb2 31. Nd8 Qxb4 (31… Qc1 32. exf5+ Kh6 33. Qh4+ Nh5 34. g4 Qf4+ 35. Kg2 Bb7+ 36. Nxb7 Qg5 37. Qxg5+ Kxg5 38. Nc5 Nf4+ 39. Kg3) 32. Qxc8

fxe4 33. g4 Qe7 34. Qf5+ Kg7 35. Ne6+ Kg8 36. g5 Nd7 37. Bb3 Kh8 38. Ba4 e3 39. Bxd7 e2 40. Qxe5+ Kg8 41. Qxe2 Qxd7 42. Qe4, when White’s additional material ensures the eventual win as the

outcome. 29… KH6 30. QXC8 KG7 31. QE6? Another mistake, and a serious one. Necessary was, 31. Qxf5 Qa1+ 32. Kh2 Qc1 33. Bb3 Qf4+ 34. Qxf4 exf4 35. e5 Ne4 36. Nf7 bxc3 37. bxc3 Bc5 38. g3,

with the win still available. 31… QA1+ 32. KH2 QXB2?? An awful blunder. After 32… Qa7 33. Qxf5 Qe7 34. cxb4 Kxh8 35. b5 Qd6, Black is level.  33.BB3 H5 34. QF7+ KXH8 35. QXF8+ 1-0

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