How the Staunton Chess Set Became so Popular

Though there are many chess sets available these days, one chess set is said to be the standard for which all chess sets are designed around. That chess set is the Staunton chess set. It goes all the way back to 1849 and was designed by Nathaniel Cook, but names after Howard Staunton. The chess set was named after Howard Staunton not because he was the designer of the chess pieces, but because he was thought to be the best of the chess players in that era.

Chess was becoming an ever-increasingly popular game in the eighteen hundreds which brought about the need for a chess set that was seen as universal for competitive play. So, we saw the design and sale of the Staunton chess set.

The set is highly recognizable to anyone familiar with the typical chess set. The underside of each piece is weighted with lead to provide stability to them and then lined with felt so as to make them easier to slide along the board. The king is the tallest of the pieces to signify its importance and topped with a crown. The queen is the second tallest piece and topped with a coronet instead of a crown. Knights are identified by their horse-shaped heads and bishops by their Western-style mitre, a mitre being the ceremonial headdress of a bishop. Rooks typically resemble battlements of a castle. Pawns, being of the least importance are the shortest of the pieces and topped with a ball to symbolize human heads.

The set was patented in 1849 under the Ornamental Designs Act of 1842. The chess set was said to be of easy access to the hand and very elegant in its form. There was said to be no expense to practical utility and the large diameter to the pieces made them much more stable than other pieces in similar sets. Staunton openly promoted the chess set that had been named after him and blasted other chess sets of that time for their design. This might be seen as the earliest example of professional product endorsement.

To this day, over one hundred and fifty years later, the Staunton chess set is the most recognized chess set by both tournament players and amateurs alike. The utility and look of the chess pieces has been attributed to the long lasting popularity of these chess pieces. Used in most chess competitions, the Staunton chess set can certainly be seen as the standard for chess.