Leonard William Barden (born 20 August 1929, in Croydon, London) is an English chess master, writer, broadcaster, journalist, organizer and promoter. The son of a dustman, he was educated at Whitgift School, South Croydon, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read modern history. Barden learned to play chess at age 13 while in a school shelter during a World War II German air raid. Within a few years he became one of the country's leading juniors. Barden represented England in four Chess Olympiads. He played a major role in the rise of English chess from the 1970s. Barden is a chess columnist for various newspapers. His column in London's ''Evening Standard'' is the world's longest-running daily chess column by the same author.
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