Staunton, Howard

1810 – He was an English chess master born on April of this year in Westmoreland, England.

1836 - Staunton was in London, and he made a subscription to William Walker's book Games at Chess, actually played in London, by the late Alexander McDonnell Esq. Staunton was apparently twenty-six years old when he began to take an interest in the game.

1840 – He began writing, doing a chess column for the New Court Gazette from May to the end of the year. He had improved sufficiently by 1840 to play and win a match with the German master Popert, which he won by a single game.

1842 – He played hundreds of games with John Cochrane. Cochrane was a brawny contender, and he had a good warm-up for what was to be his greatest chess achievement the following year.

1843 – In this year, Staunton played a short match with France's champion, Pierre St. Amant, who was visiting London. Staunton lost the match, 3.5-2.5, but later arrangements where made for a second match, to be held in Paris. Staunton was unofficially recognized as the best player of the world from this year to 1851.

1845 – He began a chess column for the Illustrated London News, which he continued for the rest of his life. According to The Oxford Companion to Chess, Staunton's column was the most significant chess column in the world.

1847 – He wrote his most famous work, The Chess-Player's Handbook, which didn't go out of print until 1993.

1849 – He followed up another book, The Chess-Player's Companion followed in this year.

1852 – He wrote a book about London 1851 titled, The Chess Tournament.

1853 – He made a trip to Brussels to meet with Baron Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa. They discussed the standardization of the rules of chess, and played a short match, which ended in the baron's favor, five wins to four with three draws.

1856 - Staunton was beginning to withdraw from chess and turned to writing about Shakespeare as his main occupation. He secured a contract with a publisher to create an annotated edition of the great bard's works.

1874 – He passed away on the 22nd day of June of this year.