Gedeon Barcza was a Hungarian chess player and influential chess writer. He was born on August 21, 1911, in Kisujszallas, Hungary and died on February 27, 1986. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1954.
In the 1930s and 40s, Barcza was part of the Hungarian national team and was able to achieve multiple successes at the International Chess Olympiad. He was a member of the Hungarian team that won the gold medal in 1952 at the Helsinki Olympiad, the silver medals in 1950, 1954, and the bronze medal in 1956.
Barcza's individual successes include winning the Hungarian Championships eight times between 1942 and 1966, becoming the second-highest number of times for any player to win the championship. In international tournaments, his best results were at Hastings 1951–52, where he tied for first place, and Mar del Plata in 1954, where he finished in second place.
Barcza served as a chess official and was a prolific chess journalist. He was the founding editor of the Hungarian chess magazine Magyar Sakkélet (Hungarian Chess Life), and wrote for more than 30 years. He also wrote and co-authored several books on chess, contributing to the proliferation of chess literature in Hungary.
His playing style was characterized by a preference for a closed game, and he developed a specific opening system that was named after him—the Barcza System. Presenting a unique strategy, his system is implemented with the white pieces beginning with 1.Nf3 and 2.g3, typically leading to a reversed King's Indian Defence.
Despite not being as widely recognized as some other players, Barcza's contributions to chess, both in play and in journalism, have left a lasting legacy in the chess world.