József Szén (9 July 1805, Pest, Hungary – 13 January 1857) was a

chess master A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pres ...

from the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. He obtained a law degree, and later became a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

for the city of Pest, which later merged with the city of

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

(on the opposite bank of the

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) in 1873 to form present-day

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. He often played in the ''Café Worm'' of Pest, playing with any opponent for a stake of 20

Kreuzer The Kreuzer (), in English also spelled kreutzer ( ), was a coin and unit of currency in the southern German states prior to the introduction of the German gold mark in 1871–1873, and in Austria and Switzerland. After 1760 it was made of cop ...

s. 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 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

with Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais, then considered the strongest player in the world, in which de La Bourdonnais gave him

odds In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outcome. Odds are commonly used in gambling and statistics. For example for an event that is 40% probable, one could say that the odds are or When gambling, o ...

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous chess piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn or The Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pa ...

and two moves. Szén won with 13 wins and 12 losses, and no draws. Also in 1836, Szen drew a match with

ian Hyacinthe Henri Boncourt, one of France's strongest players. In 1839, Szén founded the Budapest Chess Club (Pesti Sakk-kör). In the same year, he lost a match to

Karl Mayet Carl (Karl) Mayet (11 August 1810, Berlin – 18 May 1868, Stettin, now Szczecin) was a German chess master. He was one of the most original of the Berlin Pleiades (the seven stars of German chess). In 1839, Mayet defeated Jozsef Szen in a match ...

(+2 –3 =1) in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. 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 The Hungarian Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4, e4 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5, e5 :2. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3, Nf3 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc ...

(1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7), which is playable but rarely seen in modern top-level play. In 1851, he lost a match by 13-7 to

Lionel Kieseritzky Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix Kieseritzky (; – ) was a Baltic German chess master and theoretician, known for his contributions to chess theory, as well for a game he lost against Adolf Anderssen, known as the "Immortal Game". Kieseritzky's ...

. 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 Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (6 July 1818 – 13 March 1879)"Anderssen, Adolf" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 385. was a German chess master. ...

; in the third round he overcame

Bernhard Horwitz Bernhard Horwitz (1807 in Neustrelitz – 1885 in London) was a German and British chess master, chess writer and chess composer. Horwitz was born in Neustrelitz and went to school in Berlin, where he studied art. From 1837 to 1843, he was part ...

4-0, and in the fourth round Hugh Alexander Kennedy by 4½-½. He actually scored the highest percentage in the tournament.chessgames.com, the Jozsef Szen file In 1852, he drew a match with Ernst Falkbeer (+9 –9 =2) in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In 1853, he lost a match to Daniel Harrwitz (+1 –3 =1) in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Playing strength

Szen was certainly within or near the world's top ten players for most of his playing career, and his result at London 1851 placed him on the edge of the top five. There were no international titles or ratings for chess in his era. Formal titles began only in 1950, and international ratings in 1970. In Szen's era, international tournament competition was very rare, with long-distance travel being both cumbersome and expensive. The website Chessmetrics.com assigns retrospective historical ratings, using modern mathematical algorithms, based on available results. His peak rating of 2546 is for mid-1851, fourth in the world. However, Chessmetrics is missing many of Szen's important results. In a modern context, this rating would be at the level of a strong

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

References

* Adriano Chicco, Giorgio Porreca, ''Dizionario enciclopedico degli scacchi, Mursia, Milan 1971 {{DEFAULTSORT:Szen, Jozsef 1805 births 1857 deaths Sportspeople from the Austrian Empire Chess writers 19th-century chess players

Playing strength

See also

References