Pierre de Saint-Amant

Pierre de Saint-Amant was a French chess master who was among the strongest players of his time. Saint-Amant learned chess from Wilhelm Schlumberger, a strong player who was one of the masters who operated the famous Turk automaton. After the death of Louis-Charles Mahe de La Bourdonnais, Saint-Amant was considered by many as the best player in France, then the center of chess excellence. 

In 1843, Saint-Amant played what many consider to be an unofficial world championship match against the English master Howard Staunton. The French player lost to Staunton, putting an end to the French dominance of chess that started with Francois-Andre Philidor in the early 1700s.