Staunton Chess Sets

Our range of Staunton chess sets features some of the finest Staunton chessmen available supplied with a perfectly matched chess board. Staunton has become the world’s most iconic and recognised chess set with literally hundreds of variations being produced. Our range caters for all tastes and includes traditional Staunton alongside some modern variants.

The Legend Of Staunton

The Staunton chess set is without doubt the most popular and familiar style of chess set. It's worth noting that the term Staunton chess set refers only to the chess pieces. There is no such thing as a Staunton chess board. It's also a popular misconception to believe that there is or was a company called Staunton who manufactured chess sets. There has never been such a company. The name of the famous chess set comes from a famous chess player who lived in Victorian times. His name was Howard Staunton and for a time was the number one chess player in the world.

Staunton was getting fed up with having to play international games with players using obscure chess sets of various ornate designs. He didn't like that some of the chessmen were hard to distinguish and some pieces were top heavy, easy to topple and not very tactile. When Howard was made aware of a new design of chessmen he instantly put his name to it. He commented that the design was perfect. Each piece was unique and easy to recognise, but there was no doubt that these pieces were all from the same set. They were stable, easy to pick up and put down. It meant a game of chess with these chessmen would mean his mind was focused only on the chess, not on the pieces.

Our Staunton chess sets section features some superb quality chess pieces that have been expertly matched up with appropriate chess boards. When you buy your Staunton chess set from us you can be guaranteed that the chessmen will fit nicely on the board, will complement each other in terms of colour and of course look fantastic.

Wooden Staunton Chess Sets

Since the Stanton chess set was brought to the market place in the mid eighteen hundreds the most common material for making them has always been wood. The original sets were always made from ebony and boxwood. These days we sell sets made from a variety of woods including sheesham, rosewood, fake ebony woods, sandalwood and of course real ebony and boxwood.

A Genuine Staunton Chess Set?

There is a common misconception among buyers that Staunton is the name of a company that manufacture chess sets. There never was such a company, the name actually comes from a famous Victorian chess player, Howard Staunton, who endorsed and marketed the set believing it to be the best chess set to play chess with. The original Staunton Chess Sets were made in London and are now very valuable collectors items. These days the Staunton name refers only to the style of the design, London is no longer home to any chess piece production, instead almost all of the chess sets are now made outside the UK by a variety of manufacturers. The Regency Chess Company sells a vast selection of Staunton chess sets ranging from the ultra traditional sets fashioned in the Victorian style to more modern interpretations of the iconic design.