József Szén

József Szén (born 9 July 1805, Pest, Hungary – died 13 January 1857) was a Hungarian chess master.

He obtained a law degree and later became the municipal archivist for the city of Pest. He was given the nickname of the Hungarian Philidor. In 1836, Szén beat Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais with 13 wins and 12 losses, no draws in Paris. La Bourdonnais gave odds of pawn and two moves. In 1839, he founded the Budapest Chess Club (Pesti Sakk-kor). In 1839, Szén lost a match to Karl Mayet (+2 –3 =1) in Berlin. Between 1842 and 1846, he headed a Pest (Budapest) team of correspondence players that beat a Paris team with 2 wins and no losses. The Hungarian team introduced the Hungarian Defense, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7. The suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 brought with it a ban on all club activities, including chess clubs. The ban was in effect until 1864.

Szén took 5th place at the world's first international chess tournament, London 1851. 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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