Howard Staunton (April 1810 – 22 June 1874) was an English chess master who is generally regarded as the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant.

He promoted a chess set of clearly distinguishable pieces of standardised shape – the Staunton pattern promulgated by Nathaniel Cooke – that is still the style required for competitions.

On the other hand, he maintained good working relationships with several strong players and influential chess enthusiasts, and demonstrated excellent management skills.

[2] The chess historian H. J. R. Murray summarised the information that he gleaned from various sources: Staunton was born in 1810, reputedly the natural son (meaning illegitimately born) of Frederick Howard, fifth Earl of Carlisle; he was neglected in youth, receiving little or no education; although he spent some time in Oxford, he was never a member of the university; when he came of age he inherited a few thousand pounds, which he soon squandered; in later life Staunton often used to tell how he had once played Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice, with the famous English actor Edmund Kean playing Shylock.

[3] Several modern commentators regard Staunton as de facto World Champion after his match victory over Saint-Amant, although that title did not yet formally exist.

In 1871 his report of a telegraphic match between Sydney and Adelaide calculated that the 74 moves of the longest game had travelled a total of 220,000 miles (not much less than the distance between Earth and Moon).

[28] He still found time for two matches in 1846, comfortably beating the professionals Bernhard Horwitz (fourteen wins, three draws, and seven losses) and Daniel Harrwitz.

Staunton advertised the new set in his Illustrated London News chess column, pointing out that the pieces were easily identifiable, very stable, and good-looking.

[29] Anthony Saidy and Norman Lessing wrote that, "if a vote was taken among chess-players as to which pieces they most enjoyed playing with, ... the Staunton chessmen would win by an overwhelming margin.

[31] He may also have been motivated by reports that a few years earlier Ludwig Bledow had proposed to organise an international tournament in Germany, whose winner was to be recognised as the world champion.

[31] Before the tournament started Captain Kennedy and the Liberty Weekly Tribune in Missouri wrote that the winner should be regarded as "the World's Chess Champion".

[32] The organisers obtained financial contributions from Europe, the US and Asia, enabling the committee to set up a prize fund of £500,[31] equivalent to about £359,000 in 2006's money.

Staunton replied, thanking the New Orleans Chess Club and Morphy "for the honor implied in your selection of me as the opponent of such a champion" and pointing out that he had not competed for several years and was working six days a week (on editing Shakespeare), and that he could not possibly travel across the Atlantic for a match.

[41] Staunton also wrote in The Illustrated London News that he had "been compelled, by laborious literary occupation, to abandon the practice of chess, beyond the indulgence of an occasional game ... .

If Mr. Morphy – for whose skill we entertain the liveliest admiration – be desirous to win his spurs among the chess chivalry of Europe, he must take advantage of his purposed visit next year; he will then meet in this country, in France, in Germany and in Russia, many champions ... ready to test and do honor to his prowess.

Murray wrote that Staunton had overexerted himself and damaged his health by trying both to get ahead of schedule on the Shakespeare project and to play some competitive chess.

[48][44]: 34  Just after the tournament a letter signed by "Anti-book" appeared in Staunton's column in The Illustrated London News, alleging that Morphy did not actually have the money for his share of the stakes.

In 1997 a memorial stone bearing an engraving of a chess knight was raised over his grave at Kensal Green Cemetery in London, which had previously been unmarked and neglected.

They just can't seem to accept that Staunton was an unmitigated bastard in his treatment of Morphy because he knew damned well he could never have made any decent showing against him in a match.

[40] William Norwood Potter wrote in his obituary of Staunton in the City of London Chess Magazine ... nor were his innuendoes concerning Morphy otherwise than an utterly unworthy means of getting out of an engagement, which he could have either declined with a good grace at first, or afterwards have honourably asked to be released from.

[80] In his book The World of Chess, Anthony Saidy refused to reprint a single Staunton game and said his style of play was mostly about the acquisition of material rather than strategic or analytical brilliance.

"[88] However, British International Master William Hartston wrote that Staunton's many achievements were done "with the full weight of an arrogant and pompous nature which has scarcely been matched in the history of the game.

"[89] Even contemporaries sympathetic to Staunton admitted that he could be spiteful in response to unexpected defeats,[3][90][91] and to proposals or arguments that he considered ill-founded or malicious.

[95] H. J. R. Murray suggested that these frequent wars of words may have originated from leading players' and commentators' jealousy over Staunton's unexpected rise to the top in the early 1840s, and from snobbish disdain about his humble and possibly illegitimate birth.

[28] Staunton showed excellent management skills in building the team to organise the 1851 London International tournament, and determination and resourcefulness in overcoming the difficulties of getting enough competitors.

[3][79][92] Despite the disappointing way in which his playing career ended,[40] Staunton continued to write with enthusiasm about the progress of new technologies, players, and developments in chess theory.

[56] Staunton proposed and was the principal organiser of the first international chess tournament,[3] which proved that such events were possible, and which produced a clear consensus on who was the world's strongest player – Adolf Anderssen.

[102] Around 1888 Staunton's Chess: Theory and Practice, published posthumously in 1876, was regarded as modern in most respects, but there was a growing need for more up-to-date analysis of openings.

Although he introduced the English Opening, it has been called "really a 20th century invention" that only became fully respectable after future world champion Mikhail Botvinnik began playing it in the 1930s.

[115] In 1979 Viktor Korchnoi, one of the world's leading players, successfully introduced this line into top-class competition,[116] but later authorities concluded, as Staunton had, that Black gets a good game with 2...Nf6 3.g4 d5!