Staunton chess set

Original Staunton chess pieces, left to right:pawn,rook,knight,bishop,queen,andking

TheStaunton chess setis the standard style ofchess pieces,recommended for use in competition since 2022 byFIDE,the international chess governing body.

The journalistNathaniel Cookeis credited with the design on the patent, and they are named after the leading Englishchess masterHoward Staunton,who endorsed it;the first 500 sets were numbered and hand-signed by Staunton.This style of set was first made available byJaques of Londonin 1849, and it quickly became the standard. The set style and its variations have been used around the world since.

Background

An English Barleycorn-style set

A St. George-style set

During the late 18th century and early 19th century, the increased interest in the game ofchess,particularly in international play, brought about a renewed demand for a more universal model forchess pieces.The variety and styles of the conventional form, which began in the 15th century, had expanded tremendously by the beginning of the 19th century. Conventional types popular during the period included the English Barleycorn chess set, the St. George chess set,the French Regence chess set(named after theCafé de la Régencein Paris), and the central European forms.

The Staunton chess set was released in 1849 in response to these issues. The pieces were designed to be easy to use and universally recognized by chess players of diverse backgrounds. It was first released by the purveyors of fine games,John Jaques of London,sport and games manufacturers, ofHatton Gardenin London. It became known as the Staunton chess set afterHoward Staunton(1810–1874), the chess player and writer who was generally considered thestrongest player in the worldfrom 1843–1851.Nathaniel Cookehas long been credited with the design.

One theory of the development of the set is that Cooke had used prestigious architectural concepts, familiar to an expanding class of educated and prosperous gentry. London architects, strongly influenced by theculture of Greeceand theculture of ancient Rome,were designing prestigious buildings in theneoclassical style.The appearance of the new chessmen was based on this style, and the pieces were symbols of "respectable" Victorian society:

• Abishopdistinguished by amitre
• Aqueen'scoronetandking'scrown
• Aknightcarved as astallion's head from theElgin Marblesfrom theParthenon
• Arookstreamlined into clean classical lines, projecting an aura of strength and security
• The Stauntonpawnfollows a simple traditional design of a cone capped with a knob,but elaborated in the style of aVictorian architecturebalcony.

There were also practical innovations: A crown emblem was stamped onto arookandknightof each side to identify their positioning on to the king's side of the board. This was because, indescriptive chess notation,therooksandknightswere often designated by being the "queen's knight", the "king's rook", etc.

Another possibility is that Jaques, a masterturner,had probably been experimenting with a design that not only would be accepted by players but also could be produced at a reasonable cost. In the end, he most likely borrowed and synthesized elements from sets already available to create a new design that used universally recognizable symbols atop conventional stems and bases: The resulting pieces were compact, well balanced, and weighted to provide an understandable, practical playing set.

It may have been a combination of both theories with thesynergyof Cooke the entrepreneur and Jaques the artisan.

From 1820 on, diagrams in chess books began to use icons of chess pieces similar in many respects to the Staunton chessmen, including a change from arched crown to coronet for the queen. This shows that the Staunton design may have been taken from these diagrams, very likely created by a printer.

Design

Theebonyandboxwoodsets were weighted withleadto provide added stability and the underside of each piece was covered withfelt,allowing the pieces to slide easily across the board. Someivorysets were made from African ivory. Thekingsizes ranged from 3½ to 4½ inches and the sets typically came in apapier-mâchécase, each one bearing afacsimileof Staunton's signature under the lid.

The Staunton pieces broadly resemble columns with a widemoldedbase.Knightsfeature the sculpted head and neck of ahorse.Kings,the tallest pieces, top the column with a stylisedcrowntopped with a crosspattée.Queensare slightly smaller than kings, and feature acoronettopped with a tiny ball (amonde).Rooksfeature stylisedcrenellatedbattlementsandbishopsaWestern-style mitre.Pawnsare the smallest and are topped by a plain ball. Pieces representing human characters (the king, queen, bishop, and pawn) have a flat disk separating the body from the head design, which is known as a collar.

A modified Staunton chess set, described in theFIDELaws of Chess,is used for the blind and visually impaired. In such a set, the black pieces are differentiated from the white pieces by a small point/spike atop the pieces, and the dark squares are raised above the light squares to allow the user to feel the board and pieces to understand the position. Furthermore, each square has a hole into which pegs on the bottom of each piece are inserted, allowing the user to feel the position of the pieces without moving them or knocking them over.

Patent

The design was registered at thePatent Officeon 1 March 1849, to Nathaniel Cooke, 198 Strand,London,Englandas anOrnamental Design for a set of Chess-Men,under theOrnamental Designs Act of 1842.At that date, there was no provision for the registration of any design or articles of ivory; registration was limited to Class 2, articles chiefly made ofwood.

Marketing

Cooke was the editor for theIllustrated London News,where Staunton published chess articles. He convinced the champion to endorse the chess set.

The” Staunton Chess-men.” - We have lately been favoured with a sight of the newly-designed Chess-men you speak of, and shall be greatly mistaken if, in a very short time, these beautiful pieces do not entirely supersede the ungainly, inexpressive ones we have been hitherto contented with. In the simplicity and elegance of their form, combining apparent lightness with real solidity, in the nicety of their proportions one with another, so that in the most intricate positions every piece stands out distinctively, neither hidden nor overshadowed by its fellows, the” Staunton Chess-men” are incomparably superior to any others we have ever seen.

— Illustrated London News,8 September 1849.

Staunton not only endorsed the product for Jaques of London but promoted it to an extraordinary degree including the lambasting and derision of any other design of chessmen then proposed. The Staunton, as it became known, became available to the general public on 29 September 1849. The Staunton style was soon the standard on which most tournament playing pieces have been made and used around the world ever since. The low cost of the Staunton set allowed the masses to purchase sets and helped to popularize the game of chess.

Staunton chess set always had a cross on top of the king and the bishop's mitre design. These two aspects make it a Christianized chess set. Therefore, in non-Christian or socialist countries such as Yugoslavia and Soviet Union, other designs were preferred or Staunton design was altered to be without religious symbols. For example, Dubrovnik chess set from Yugoslavia used in 1950 World Chess Olympiad, Fisher's favorite set, was purposely designed to be without religious symbols. Similarly many Soviet chess sets such as Latvian and Baku designs didn't have the king's cross or bishop's mitre.

Variants

There are 17 recognized variants derived from the original 1849 Staunton chess set, classified as follows:

1. Leuchars chess set (1849)
2. Cooke chess set (1849–50)
3. Wedgewood chess set (1849)
4. Morphy chess set (1851) – characterized by "Morphy" knights, which have more pronounced jowls than other designs.
5. Harrwitz chess set (1852–55)
6. Paulsen chess set (1853–55)
7. Anderssen chess set (1855–65)
8. Steinitz chess set (1865–70)
9. Tarrasch chess set (1870–75)
10. Zukertort chess set (1875–80)
11. Lasker chess set (1880–85)
12. Pre-Hartston chess set (1885–90)
13. Hartston chess set (1890–1900)
14. Marshall chess set (1900–15)
15. Nimzovitch chess set (1927–37)
16. Broadbent chess set (1925–37)
17. Lessing chess set (1927–37)

Modern times

The Staunton chess set has proven to be extremely popular and is likely to remain so in the future.The design is successful because of its well-balanced and easily recognized pieces. It is currently the official standard for tournament chess pieces.Anthony SaidyandNorman Lessingwrote that, "if a vote were taken among chess-players as to which pieces they most enjoyed playing with, there can be no doubt that the Staunton chessmen would win by an overwhelming margin. They are invariably used in major chess tournaments. No self-respecting chess club would be without them. They afford the most pleasing combination of utility and aesthetic appeal."

Wooden Staunton chess sets were often turned on alathe,then non-circular details were added by hand; the knights were made in two parts (head and base) which were stuck together with adhesive.

A modern Staunton set, in plastic

• 
  White king
• 
  White queen
• 
  White rook
• 
  White bishop
• 
  White knight
• 
  White pawn

• 
  Black king
• 
  Black queen
• 
  Black rook
• 
  Black bishop
• 
  Black knight
• 
  Black pawn

Knight variations

Even among sets of the standard Staunton pattern, the style of the pieces varies, especially theknights.Some examples are shown below.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

See also

• Dubrovnik chess set
• Makonde chess set
• Selenus chess set
• Lewis chessmen

Bibliography

• Evans, Sean."History of Staunton Chess Pieces".Archived fromthe originalon 28 October 2009.– original article placed here by author and inter-wiki linked.
• Hooper, David;Whyld, Kenneth(1992).The Oxford Companion to Chess(2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-280049-3.

Further reading

• Schafroth, Colleen (2002).The Art of Chess.ISBN0-8109-1001-2.
• Williams, Gareth John (2000).Master Pieces: The architecture of chess.ISBN0-670-89381-1.
• Fersht, Alan (2007).Jaques Staunton Chess Sets 1849-1939.ISBN978-0-9557325-0-8.

External links

• Wall, Bill."Staunton chess set".Archived fromthe originalon 28 October 2009.
• "Styles of sets 1700-1849".
• "dedicated Jaques Staunton site".
• "Illustrated London News, Sept. 8, 1849".