Chess Master
Howard Staunton organised the world’s first international chess tournament in 1851. He was considered the world's strongest player at the time and had been undefeated since he started playing in tournaments in 1843. A master of positional play, the ‘Staunton opening’ bears his name and his text - The Chess-Player's Handbook - is still in print.
Little is known about Staunton's early life, but his father is believed to be the fifth Earl of Carlisle. He was supposedly neglected in his youth and had no formal education. When Staunton reached adulthood, he received a large sum of money which he frittered away. Having spent his youth in Oxford, he moved to London and took up chess at the age of 26.
Staunton started to play against chess masters shortly after taking up the game. Although initially he suffered many defeats he studied hard and had a flurry of victories. These gave him notoriety and column-space in chess journals. He went on to publish his own publication, The Chess Players' Chronicle, which he edited until the 1850s.
Staunton's fame within the international game came from his victory in a match against the French chess master Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant. There was a £100 wager placed upon the game, the equivalent of around £70,000 today. Staunton won the match 13-8 and was hailed by the British press as world champion. After the match Staunton’s writings in the Illustrated London News came to global attention. He wrote over 1,400 articles in what was then considered the most influential chess column in the world.
Despite his limited education, Staunton was considered a scholar of Shakespeare. Commissioned by Routledge to write a text on Shakespeare's plays in the 1850s, his works met critical acclaim. Staunton also proposed educational reforms. In The Great Schools of England, Staunton criticised corporal punishment; he wanted education to be sparked by passion, not punishment.
Staunton died of heart disease in 1874; he is memorialised with a plaque at his home, 117 Lansdowne Road, W11. His grave was unmarked until 1997, but the Staunton society commissioned the marble headstone that stands in the cemetery now.
Staunton is remembered as a master of positional play and a respected Shakespearean scholar.
Little is known about Staunton's early life, but his father is believed to be the fifth Earl of Carlisle. He was supposedly neglected in his youth and had no formal education. When Staunton reached adulthood, he received a large sum of money which he frittered away. Having spent his youth in Oxford, he moved to London and took up chess at the age of 26.
Staunton started to play against chess masters shortly after taking up the game. Although initially he suffered many defeats he studied hard and had a flurry of victories. These gave him notoriety and column-space in chess journals. He went on to publish his own publication, The Chess Players' Chronicle, which he edited until the 1850s.
Staunton's fame within the international game came from his victory in a match against the French chess master Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant. There was a £100 wager placed upon the game, the equivalent of around £70,000 today. Staunton won the match 13-8 and was hailed by the British press as world champion. After the match Staunton’s writings in the Illustrated London News came to global attention. He wrote over 1,400 articles in what was then considered the most influential chess column in the world.
Despite his limited education, Staunton was considered a scholar of Shakespeare. Commissioned by Routledge to write a text on Shakespeare's plays in the 1850s, his works met critical acclaim. Staunton also proposed educational reforms. In The Great Schools of England, Staunton criticised corporal punishment; he wanted education to be sparked by passion, not punishment.
Staunton died of heart disease in 1874; he is memorialised with a plaque at his home, 117 Lansdowne Road, W11. His grave was unmarked until 1997, but the Staunton society commissioned the marble headstone that stands in the cemetery now.
Staunton is remembered as a master of positional play and a respected Shakespearean scholar.