Staunton Chess Sets

The Staunton Chess Set

The Staunton chess set which is comprised of a certain type of chess piece is used for competitions as prescribed by the rules of chess.

Nathaniel Cook is given credit with coming up with the design, and they are named after Howard Staunton. The first 500 Staunton chess sets were hand signed and numbered by Staunton. This style of chess set was first made available by Jaques of London in 1849, and they soon became the standard.

Old Style Chess Sets

The increased interest in the board game chess, particularly in international play in the late 18th century and early 19th century, ushered in a renewed demand for a universal model for chessmen. The variety and styles of the conventional chess form begun in the 15th century had dramatically expanded at the start of the nineteenth century. Some of the common conventional types popular during this era were the English Barleycorn chess set, the St. George chess set, the French Regence chess set, named after the Cafe de la Regence in Paris and the central European Selenus chess set. Most chess pieces were tall, which made them easy to tip and cumbersome during game play, but their major flaw was the uniformity of the chessmen within each set. A chess player's unfamiliarity with an opponent's set could alter the outcome of a game.

By the early decades of the 19th century, it was obvious that there was a demand for a chess set with pieces that were easy to use and universally recognized by chess players of diverse backgrounds. The solution, first released in 1849 by the purveyors of fine games, John Jaques of London, sport and games manufacturers, of HattonGarden, LondonEngland, was to become known as the Staunton chess set after Howard Staunton, the chess player and writer who was generally considered the strongest player in the world from 1843 to 1851.

Although Nathaniel Cook has long been given credit with the Staunton design, it may have been conceived by his brother-in-law and owner of the firm, John Jaques.

The First Theory

The first theory considered involving the evolution of the Staunton chess set is that Mr. Cook had used prestigious architectural concepts influenced by the culture of Greece and ancient Rome, who were designing prestigious buildings in the neoclassical style. The appearance of the new chess pieces were based on this style and the chessmen were symbols of "respectable" Victorian society:

A distinguished bishop's mitre,

A queen's coronet and king's crown,

A knight carved as a stallion's head from the Ancient Greece Elgin Marbles

and a castle streamlined into clean classical lines, projecting an aura of strength and security.

The form of the chess pawns was based on the Freemasons Square and Compasses, however; yet another theory suggest the pawns form is derived from the balconies of Victorian architecture.

The Second Theory

The second theory is that Jaques, a master turner, may have been experimenting with a design that would not only be accepted by chess players but could also be constructed 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. Moreover, the pieces were compact, well balanced and weighted to provide a playing set that was as useful as it was understandable.

The Third Theory

The third theory is thought to be a combination of both theories with the synergy of Mr. Cook the entrepreneur and Mr. Jaques the artisan.

The Staunton Design

The ebony and boxwood sets were weighted with lead to provide added stability and the underside of each piece was covered with felt. This afforded the players the illusion that the chessmen were floating across the board. Some ivory sets were made from African ivory. The king sizes ranged from 3 inches to 4 inches and the sets typically came in a caron-pierre case, each one bearing a facsimile of Staunton's signature under the lid.

The Staunton chess pieces mainly resemble columns with a wide molded base. Knights feature the sculpted head and neck of a horse. Kings, the tallest of the pieces, top the column with a stylized closed crown topped with a cross patte. Queens are slightly smaller than kings, and feature an coronet topped with a tiny ball. Rooks feature stylized crenellated battlements and bishops a Western-style mitre. Pawns are the smallest and are topped by a plain ball that represents a human head.