Howard Staunton
The Livingston County Chess Club meets every Monday night between
4pm and 10pm
at the Buffalo Wild Wings in
the Green Oak Mall in Brighton, MI.
Stop in for some friendly chess, good food
and 'refreshments'.
Everyone of all ages and playing strength are
welcome to attend. And free lessons to all beginners!
Now the winner of the 2024 LCCC 960 Freestyle Tournament was Vince Valente – going 4 – 0!
Congratulations Vince! And thank you to all 16 players who participated.
Writers
Who Have Changed Chess History – Part II
Howard
Staunton
He achieved fame by winning a match against the French chess champion Pierre de Saint-Amant. He became notorious (I say nefarious) for avoiding a match with American Champion Paul Morphy. He designed a chess set style that is still very much in use today, as each piece except the pawn give a "hint" as to how they move.
He brought the first international chess tournament to London,
England. He edited the first British chess magazine. And Howard Staunton was
all those things and the first and only English world champion.
Staunton
was born in 1810. In a twist of fate, his death came in 1874 on June 22, the
same date that Paul Morphy was born.
He
was a rare bird for great chess players as he was 19 years old when he learned
to play. But by 1840 he established himself as England's best player. In 1843,
he won that match against Saint-Amant by a resounding score of 11 wins, 6 loses
and 4 draws. And three years after that, he defeated both Bernhard Horowitz and
Daniel Harrwitz to be given the reckoned position of the world's best player.
But
it was in 1847, when he wrote his first and greatest chess work, The Chess
Player's Handbook. It was so successful for such a long time it was
re-printed 21 times between 1847 and 1935!
In
1849, he wrote The Chess Player's Companion, and also designed the chess set
that is still very much in use today.
Staunton
claimed to be so busy with his simultaneous exhibition schedule and his writing
of a third book, that he said he had no time, and it made no financial sense to hold a
match against Paul Morphy. And as Paul was crossing the Atlantic by ship to meet with Staunton, Staunton set sail for South America for a simultaneous exhibition and book selling tour.
So Paul was left to play all of Staunton's vanquished foes. The feeling of every master chess player at that time is that Paul Morphy would have won the match against Staunton easily. There is a bit of a stain on Staunton's legacy for not playing the match, but you cannot discount his contributions to chess in any event.
In 1860, he published The Player's Handbook, which had improvements to openings, and at least paid homage to Morphy's greatness with published games and analysis.
In Handbook, Staunton's treatment of endgames was more systematic than Philidor's treatment, but you could tell his heart was not in it. Staunton relished in opening theory.
Book
(Section) One; Beginners guide
Book
Two does deep dives into the popular openings of those times; King's Knight
Openings; Philidor Def, Petroff's Def, Guioco Piano, Evan's Gambit, and Ruy
Lopez.
Book
Three; King's Bishop Opening,
Book
Four; King's Gambit,
Book
Five; Queen's Gambit and
Book
Six; Endgames.
