 He made his debut in international-class chess at the strong London 1932 tournament, which World Champion Alexander Alekhine won. Milner-Barry's best results in international competition were achieved in three straight years at the Margate tournaments from 1937 – 39, and at Hastings 1938. In all four events he finished just above the middle against strong fields, with performance ratings (as calculated by Chessmetrics) between 2538 and 2565. This places him at a solid International Master standard, although he never received this title. He reached as high as No. 65 in the world between June and August 1941, according to Chessmetrics, which ranks historical chess performances retrospectively, using modern algorithms.
