Nayden Voinov was born on 17.07.1895 in the town of Kula. His father was a postman Kosta Voinov. He spent his childhood years in Kula and then studied at the First Boys' High School in Sofia until the 12th grade. After graduating from high school, where he studied six languages, he became a teacher for one year in the village of Frolosh near Kyustendil. He later became a commercial broker in the auditor's office, and during the war he was treasurer and conductor of a string orchestra. He started a family and moved to Sofia, where he worked in the audit office. He was one of the founders of the Bulgarian Chess Union in 1928-1929 and its long-time secretary. At the same time, he was also the secretary of individual chess championships, where he achieved the vice-championship title behind Georgi Geshev. In 1936, he participated in the national team of the First Chess Olympiad in Munich, Germany where he represented Bulgaria with dignity.
In 1936, Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine passed through Sofia and visited the Sofia City Club holding a 30-board exhibition, in which the best chess players of Sofia participated. One of them is Nayden Voinov. Alekhine greeted him most cordially and officially, to which Nayden Voinov replied: "Yes, but this is only an exhibition, it would have been another thing to be participating in a tournament". With these words, he expressed his chess ambition, dignity and honour.
During the bombings after September 9, Voinov was forced to leave the capital and returned to Vidin, where he settled permanently. He worked as an accountant at Messokombinat Vidin and brought together chess players from the city in the cafe of Bai Ivan Banicharya. He was one of the best chess players in Vidin for many years, despite his advanced age, and is a favorite of all chess players.
In 1965, the Vidin Chess Club organized a celebration of Nayden Voinov's 70th anniversary. The hall overflowed with the audience, and Voinov was showered with many gifts from various enterprises, organizations and admirers. At this celebration, he was awarded by the BFS with the title ZDF and master of sports. He left lasting traces in the chess life of Bulgaria and Vidin, which is why the Vidin chess players unanimously named their club SHK "Nayden Voinov". (1)
(1) http://chess.bcvidin.org/naiden.htm - accessed through https://web.archive.org/web/2008012...
Kibitzing
