Who is Harry Golombek

Note: Harry Golombek (Left) vs Alberic O'Kelly de Galway (1949)

Who is Harry Golombek?

Harry Golombek OBE was a British chess player, chess author, and wartime codebreaker. He was born on 1 March 1911 and died on 7 January 1995. He won the British chess championship three times, in 1947, 1949, and 1955, and placed second in 1948.

Personal life and works

He was born to Polish-Jewish parents in Lambeth. He was The Times' chess correspondent from 1945 to 1985, succeeding Stuart Milner-Barry. He was a FIDE official and acted as an arbiter for a number of significant tournaments, such as the Candidates' Tournament of 1959 in Yugoslavia and the World Chess Championship match between Mikhail Botvinnik and Tigran Petrosian in 1963. He was also a respected author and compiled the game collections of José Raul Capablanca and Réti. From 1938 until 1940, he was the editor of British Chess Magazine, and in the 1960s and 1970s, he was the foreign editor. Golombek has translated a number of Russian chess books into English.

Legacy

Golombek represented England at the Chess Olympiad nine times. In 1950, he was named International Master, and in 1985, he was named Honorary Grandmaster. He was the first player from the United Kingdom to qualify for an Interzonal event. Golombek studied philology at King's College London after attending Camberwell's Wilson's Grammar School. In 1966, he became the first person to receive the OBE for services to chess.