The World Chess Championship Chess Set
INTRODUCTION
The world chess chess set is without doubt one of the most important designs of chess set this century. For the first time in over one hundred and fifty years an attempt is being made to change to 'Standard' chess set used in tournaments, clubs and schools the world over. The aim of this website is to find out who, what and why is behind this new chess set.
The story begins in England during the mid 1800s when there was no official standard of chess set. A small games manufacture in London called Jaques created what can only be described as a design classic, what we know today as the Staunton Chess Set. Originally the set wasn't called Staunton, it actually picked up the name through endorsement from Howard Staunton, the world's number one chess player at the time.
Howard was a very forward thinking man who in many ways was way ahead of his time. He saw the set and instantly fell in love with it. His endorsement made it instantly popular and within a few years it had become the standard design used in tournaments the world over.
Since then, the Staunton chess set has become the architypal chess set, referred to many as 'traditional' 'standard' or 'normal'. Whenever anyone wishes to depict a chess piece it's invariably a Staunton piece. Chess federations and governing bodies the world over have adopted the Staunton set as the standard.
During the last hundred years or so there have been various attempts to create new designs of chess set, but none have ever become as popular, well known or recognised as the original Staunton design.
Fast forward to 2013 and something very interesting has happened. A new chess set has been created that has the potential to become the new standard. The reason for this is that it's immediately been adopted by FIDE, the world chess federation, as their standard set for major tournaments. When people see photographs of their chess heroes mid game they will no longer see them pondering over a Staunton set, but the new chess set.
Opinion seems to be very much divided as to whether the set will ever replace Staunton, but one thing is for sure... this new set is here to stay and people in the chess world are going to be seeing a lot more of it.