Perfect Chess Sets

Old style chess sets

A St. George style set.

With an increasing interest in the game of chess, especially in international play during the last two centuries, it was only natural that a renewed demand for a more universal model for chess pieces would develop. The current conventional form had its roots as far back as the 15th century.

Some of the more common conventional types popular during the period included the English Barleycorn chess set, the St. George chess set, the French Regence chess set, named after the Café de la Régence in Paris and the central European Selenus chess set.

Staunton chess set

It had become clear at the onstart of the 19th century that there was a need for a universally recognized chess set with pieces that were both easy to use and universally recognizeable to players from any country. John Jaques and Hatton Garden were the originators of the pieces that would come to be known as the Staunton Chess set, named after Howard Staunton, World Chess Champion.

Inspiration

Speculation abounds that the developers used prestigious architectural concepts, familiar to the people of London at that time. The architecture in London was strongly influenced by the cultures of both Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome with neoclassical styled buildings populating the landscape.

The appearance of the new chessmen was based on this style and the pieces 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 pawns was based on the Freemasons Square and Compasses, however; another theory reflects the pawns form is derived from the balconies of Victorian architecture.

There were also practical innovations: for the first time a crown emblem was stamped onto a rook and knight of each side, to identify their positioning on to the king's side of the board. The reason for this is that in descriptive chess notation, the rooks and knights were often designated by being the "queen's knight", the "king's rook", etc.

Marketing

Mr. Cook was the editor for the Illustrated London News where Howard Staunton published chess articles and convinced the champion to endorse the chess set. The advertisement possibly written by Mr. Staunton published as follows:

“	A set of Chessmen, of a pattern combining elegance and solidity to a degree hitherto unknown, has recently appeared under the auspices of the celebrated player Mr. STAUNTON. A guiding principle has been to give by their form a signification to the various pieces - thus the king is represented by a crown, the Queen by a coronet, &c. The pieces generally are fashioned with convenience to the hand; and it is to be remarked, that while there is so great an accession to elegance of form, it is not attained at the expense of practical utility. Mr. STAUNTON'S pattern adopts but elevates the conventional form; and the base of the Pieces being of a large diameter, they are more steady than ordinary sets.	”
	— Illustrated London News, September 8, 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. This may have been the first time that a celebrated name was used to promote a commercial product. The Staunton as it became known, became available to the general public on September 29, 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 to produce the Staunton set allowed the masses to purchase sets and helped to popularize the game of chess.

The Staunton set obtained the stamp of approval of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, when in 1924 it was selected as their choice of set, for use in all future international chess tournaments.

Modern times

For over a century and a half, this chess set has been valued by players around the world. One of the reasons for its success is the well-balanced and easily recognized pieces. It is currently recognized as the official standard for tournament chess pieces.