Quick Facts
Biography
Francis Burden (1829/30 in Belfast—January 13, 1882 in Belfast) was a British civil engineer and chess player. He was also skilled at whist and billiards. Hans Renette has suggested that Burden may have inspired Henry Bird to play what is now known as the Bird Defense in the Ruy Lopez.
Biography
Burden was born in Belfast in either 1829 or 1830, and lived in London for many years, where he met and trained Cecil Valentine De Vere. He visited Venezuela in his capacity as a businessman around 1870, after which he developed a fever and was forced to retire from chess. He died on January 13, 1882, at the age of 52, on the same day that his close friend Samuel Boden died. At the time of his death, he had been retired from chess for twelve or thirteen years.