Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Pest, Pest County, Hungary
About József Szén
- József Szén (9 July 1805, Pest, Hungary – 13 January 1857) was a Hungarian chess master. He obtained a law degree, and later became the municipal archivist, a civil servant, for the city of Pest, which later merged with the city of Buda (on the opposite bank of the Danube River) in 1873 to form present-day Budapest.
- He often played in the Café Worm of Pest, playing with any opponent for a stake of 20 Kreuzers. Very strong in the endgame, he was given the nickname of the Hungarian Philidor.
- He discovered and described the Szen position, in the endgame of rook and bishop against rook, as a drawing method for the weaker side (see below).
- This work has stood up to subsequent analysis. From 1836 to 1839, Szen travelled extensively throughout much of Europe, including France, Germany and England, playing chess wherever he went.
- In 1836 Szén played a match in Paris with Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais, then considered the strongest player in the world, in which de La Bourdonnais gave him odds of pawn and two moves.
- Szén won with 13 wins and 12 losses, and no draws.
- Also in 1836, Szen drew a match with Parisian Hyacinthe Henri Boncourt, one of France's strongest players. In 1839, Szén founded the Budapest Chess Club (Pesti Sakk-kor).
- In the same year, he lost a match to Karl Mayet (+2 –3 =1) in Berlin.
- Between 1842 and 1846, he headed a Pest (Budapest) team of correspondence players, including Johann Lowenthal, that beat a Paris team, headed by Pierre Saint-Amant, with two wins and no losses.
- The Hungarian team introduced the Hungarian Defense (1.
- e4 e5 2.
- Nf3 Nc6 3.
- Bc4 Be7), which is playable but rarely seen in modern top-level play. The suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 brought with it a ban on all club activities in the country, including chess clubs.
- The ban was in effect until 1864. In 1851, he lost a match by 13-7 to Lionel Kieseritzky.Szén took fifth place at the world's first international chess tournament, London 1851.
- In the first round he beat Samuel Newham 2-0, then lost 2-4 to the tournament winner, Adolf Anderssen; in the third round he overcame Bernhard Horwitz 4-0, and in the fourth round Hugh Alexander Kennedy by 4½-½.
- He actually scored the highest percentage in the tournament.
- In 1852, he drew a match with Ernst Falkbeer (+9 –9 =2) in Vienna.
- In 1853, he lost a match to Daniel Harrwitz (+1 –3 =1) in London.
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