Howard Staunton

Howard Staunton (1810–1874) was an English chess player and writer, the leading player in the world in the mid-1840s. After defeating the French champion Saint-Amant in 1843, he organized the first international chess tournament in London in 1851 and edited a long-running chess column in the Illustrated London News. His Chess-Player's Handbook taught generations of players, and the classic design of chessmen introduced in 1849 still bears his name. A man of letters as well, he published an annotated edition of Shakespeare's plays. The Blue Book of Chess was built on his work.