The History of the Staunton Pattern Chess Pieces

During the first half of the 19th century, a surge in the global popularity of chess brought about the demand for a uniform model of chess pieces. While the variety and styles of chess pieces that were in use at the time were extensive, they were decorative in nature and considered unsuitable for play. It is important to remember that chess has historically been enjoyed by the wealthy, a fact that is reflected in the artistic designs of chess sets that dominated the marketplace. While aesthetically beautiful, the chess pieces of the period were not very practical. The chess pieces were expensive to produce, cumbersome to use, prone to tipping over and had such ornate details that they were unable to withstand the wear and tear of regular use. However the greatest disadvantage of these chess sets was the lack of uniformity of the pieces within a chess set - a player's unfamiliarity with a particular chess set could affect the outcome of the game. Complaints such as these led to the search for a standard design of chess pieces. On September 1, 1849, #58607 - An Ornamental Design for a Set of Chess-Men was registered by Mr. Nathaniel Cooke under the British Ornamental Designs Act of 1842.

Our research has lead us to conclude that the basis for this new design of chess pieces was the Northern Upright Chess set. Complaints about the contemporary designs of chess pieces were well established in chess circles. By starting with an extremely popular yet highly artistic chess set, Mr. Cooke was able to focus his energies solely on correcting those deficiencies. The ornate features that were most susceptible to damage were removed, resulting in a chess set that was durable and less expensive to produce. The diameter of the bases was widened for increased stability and the chess pieces were weighted with lead to minimize tip over. Before the commercial launch of these new chess pieces, Mr. Cooke convinced Howard Staunton to lend his prestigious name to the new design. Mr. Staunton was England's most celebrated Chess personality and the unofficial World Champion. The Staunton Pattern Chessmen, as they were officially known, became commercially available on September 29, 1849 and quickly became the world standard of chess pieces. Their lower production cost brought chess to the masses and did much to popularize the game.

Its clean, simple design has never been equaled - the Staunton Pattern chess set looks as modern today as it did upon its introduction more than 150 years ago. The House of Staunton is proud to carry on this tradition by producing the finest Staunton Pattern Chess Pieces and Chess Sets.