Harold "Harry" Golombek[1][2][3][4]OBE (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995) was a British chess player, chess author, and wartime codebreaker.[5][6] He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948.
Biography
He was born in Lambeth to Polish-Jewish[7] parents. He was the chess correspondent of the newspaper The Times from 1945 to 1985, after Stuart Milner-Barry. He was a FIDE official, and served as arbiter for several important events, including the Candidates' Tournament of 1959 in Yugoslavia, and the 1963 World Chess Championship match between Mikhail Botvinnik and Tigran Petrosian. He also edited the game collections of Capablanca and Réti, and was a respected author. He was editor of British Chess Magazine from 1938 to 1940, and its overseas editor in the 1960s and 1970s. Golombek also translated several chess books from Russian into English.
On the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Golombek was in Buenos Aires, Argentina, competing in the Chess Olympiad for Britain alongside C. H. O'D. Alexander and Stuart Milner-Barry.[8] They immediately returned to the UK, and were soon recruited into Bletchley Park, the wartime codebreaking centre. Golombek worked in Hut 8,[9] the section responsible for solving German Naval Enigma, moving to another section in October/November 1942.[10] After the war he lived at 35 Albion Crescent, Chalfont St Giles. He was unusual among public figures in replying with care to letters from unknown people, such as young schoolboys, from this address.
Golombek represented England nine times in the Chess Olympiad.[11] He earned the title of International Master in 1950 and was awarded that of Honorary Grandmaster in 1985.[12][13] He was the first British player to qualify for an Interzonal tournament.
^Sugarman, Martin (2005). "Breaking the codes: Jewish personnel at Bletchley Park". Jewish Historical Studies. 40: 217. JSTOR24027033.
^Stuart Milner-Barry, "Hut 6: Early Days", p. 89 in F. H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, eds. Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park, Oxford University Press, 1993
^Golombek himself always disputed that his Grandmaster title was 'honorary', insisting that it was belatedly bestowed for his playing achievements in the 1940s (see Hartston, William (10 January 1995). "Obituary: Harry Golombek". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2019.).
^ abAllport, D.H. & Friskney, N.J. "A Short History of Wilson's School", Wilson's School Charitable Trust, 1987
