| The story of Staunton chess pieces includes what | | | | The look of the pieces may have been influenced by |
| may be the first ever endorsement of a commercial | | | | the popularity of neo-classical Greek and Roman |
| product by a famous person. Staunton-design chess | | | | architecture in London at the time such as the knight |
| pieces are the most widely used chess pieces in the | | | | made like a stallion's head from the Parthenon. The |
| world and are the standard for chess tournament play. | | | | new chess pieces were also made to be symbols of |
| They were developed by a man named Nathaniel | | | | the Victorian era. The shape of the pawns are |
| Cook for John Jacques of London, sellers of game | | | | believed to be either from Freemason's Square and |
| and sport equipment, and were named after perhaps | | | | Compasses, or Victorian architectural balconies. There |
| the greatest chess player of the 19th century. | | | | has also been speculation that John Jacques, who |
| Howard Staunton, who was born in 1810 and died in | | | | was a skilled lathe turner, wanted a design that would |
| 1874, was a chess master in England - the world's | | | | be widely accepted and easy to produce. In reality, it |
| best during most of the 1840s. Staunton organized the | | | | was probably a bit of both. |
| first international tournament of chess in 1851, an event | | | | Staunton heartily endorsed Jacques of London's new |
| that made England the world leader in chess playing. | | | | chess set, even to the point of deriding other designs. It |
| But by the 1850s, Staunton dropped out of competitive | | | | might have been the first "celebrity |
| chess because of poor health and the fact that he | | | | endorsement" of a commercial product. In 1924, |
| had a parallel career as a Shakespearean scholar. But | | | | the Federation International des Rechecks or World |
| before he left the world of competitive chess, he | | | | Chess Federation selected Staunton chess sets as |
| wrote Chess-Player's Handbook in 1847, a book that | | | | the standard for use in future international chess |
| was a standard reference for decades. | | | | tournaments. |
| Staunton chess pieces were almost sure to be | | | | For a long time, chess pieces were made of wood |
| popular, due to the popularity of their namesakes at | | | | turned on a lathe. Any non-symmetrical details were |
| the time they were first sold (1849), and the first 500 | | | | later added by hand. The knights, of course, had to be |
| sets were numbered and signed by Staunton himself. | | | | made in two stages. |
| Staunton chess pieces rapidly became the standard | | | | Though today's chess game pieces may be made in |
| and have been used around the world since then. | | | | plastic, wood, or some other material, the |
| Before the development of Staunton chess pieces, the | | | | "standard" chess set has pieces based on |
| vastly different origins of the world's chess players | | | | John Jacques' Staunton design of 1849, with variations |
| meant that the chess pieces in one country or region | | | | that are big enough to provide some distinction among |
| might look very different from the pieces in another | | | | manufacturers yet slight enough that the pieces are |
| region or country. | | | | recognized as variations on the Staunton design. |
