He has written the Guardian’s column every week since September 1955. As well as this, he has supplied a daily chess column to the Evening Standard since 1956 “without a day missed except for Easter Fri/Mon, 25-26 Dec, Aug Bank Holiday”. Intending to explore reasons for the strong international interest in the Guardian’s coverage of the recent chess world championship held in London, I emailed Barden partly to tap his knowledge. The reaction to game one – over 300k – was such that we felt we should try and do every one. The Guardian’s then chess correspondent, Julius du Mont, lived nearby and Barden began to help with the column, checking proofs and contributing bits.

Source: The Guardian December 09, 2018 18:56 UTC