Howard Staunton (1810 – 22 June 1874) was an English chess master who is generally regarded as having been the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Saint-Amant. He promoted a chess set of clearly distinguishable pieces of standardized shape that is still the style which must be used for competitions. He was the principal organizer of the first international chess tournament in 1851, which made England the world's leading chess center and caused Anderssen to be recognized as the world's strongest player.

The Staunton chess set is composed of a particular type of chess pieces used to play the game of chess. According to the rules of chess, this style is to be used for competitions. Nathaniel Cook is credited with the design, and they are named after Howard Staunton. The first 500 sets were hand signed and numbered by Staunton.^[1] This style of set was first made available by Jaques of London in 1849, and they quickly became the standard. They have been used around the world since.

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