The Match of the Century & Jaques of London's Chess Heritage
Reykjavik, the summer of 1972. Two men sat opposite each other across a chessboard while the rest of the world watched. One was American, one was Soviet, and the game between them had become something far larger than sixty-four squares.
The pieces they moved were of a pattern first set down in London more than a century earlier. That pattern is the quiet thread running through this story, and it leads back to a workshop that had already been making games for generations.
The same design still arrives in homes today, tested against UKCA and CE safety standards before it reaches anyone's hands. You can see the living version of that history in our chess sets, alongside the wider family of our traditional games.
The Origins of Chess: Where Did the Game Come From Before It Reached Britain?
Chess did not begin in Britain, nor in Europe at all. Its earliest ancestor is usually traced to northern India, where a game called chaturanga represented the four divisions of an army: infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots. The pieces were figures of war long before they became abstract shapes.
From India the game travelled west into Persia, where it was known as shatranj. The word 'checkmate' carries an echo of that journey, descending from the Persian phrase meaning the king is helpless. As the game spread, so did its vocabulary.
Arab traders and scholars carried shatranj across North Africa and into Spain. By the medieval period it had settled across Europe, and the pieces had begun to shift to suit a different society. The elephant softened into the bishop, the chariot into the rook, and the counsellor beside the king grew into the powerful queen we know today.
England embraced the game slowly but firmly. By the time it reached the drawing rooms and coffee houses of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, chess had become a mark of intelligence and good company. It sat naturally among the pastimes of a thoughtful household.
Yet for all its popularity there was a problem. No two sets looked alike. Pieces varied wildly from maker to maker, and a knight in one set might tower over a bishop in another. For serious players, telling the pieces apart across a crowded tournament table was a genuine difficulty.
That confusion is where the British chapter of the story properly begins, and where a London maker would eventually impose order. The same spirit of careful making runs through our board games to this day.
How Jaques of London Became the Name Behind the Modern Chess Set
Jaques of London was founded in 1795, which makes it one of the oldest games and toys manufacturers in the world. By the early nineteenth century the firm had built a reputation for finely turned wooden pieces and precise craftsmanship.
That reputation mattered. A company known for accuracy and quality was exactly the sort of maker that could solve the problem troubling the chess community: the lack of a single, clear, agreed standard for the pieces themselves.
The firm did not simply manufacture sets. It set out to define what a chess set should be. Each piece needed to be recognisable at a glance, stable on the board, and pleasing to handle. Form and function had to meet.
The solution arrived in 1849, and it changed the game permanently. A new design was registered, produced by Jaques, and offered to players as a reliable standard they could trust across any table in the country.
What made this work was not marketing but craft. The turning of the wood, the weighting of the bases and the proportion of one piece to the next all reflected skills the workshop had refined across decades of making games and toys.
That same attention still shapes everything the firm produces, from chess to our backgammon boards and the pieces found across our traditional games. The principle has never changed: a good game deserves a well-made set.
The 1849 design would go on to become the only pattern permitted in official competition. From a London workshop came the form that every serious player in the world would eventually recognise, including the two men in Reykjavik more than a century later.
The Staunton Chess Piece: Why Is It Called That and Who Really Designed It?
The Staunton chess set was designed by Nathaniel Cook and registered under his design in 1849. It is one of the quiet ironies of chess history that the most famous pattern in the game is named after a man who did not draw it.
The name belongs to Howard Staunton, who lived from 1810 to 1874 and was considered the strongest chess player in the world during the 1840s. His standing in the game was enormous, which is precisely why his name carried such weight.
Staunton endorsed the new Jaques set in September 1849, with his endorsement appearing in the Illustrated London News. A champion lending his name to a design was a powerful signal to players, and it helped the pattern spread quickly.
The genius of Cook's design lay in its clarity. Each piece was given a distinct and instantly readable silhouette: the cross atop the king, the coronet of the queen, the mitre of the bishop, the horse's head of the knight. There was no mistaking one for another.
The bases were broad and weighted, so the pieces stood steady through a long and tense game. The proportions were balanced so that the board read cleanly at a glance, even in a crowded tournament hall.
Because it was both beautiful and practical, the Staunton pattern was adopted as the standard for serious play. It remains the only design permitted in official competition to this day.
Every set in our chess sets follows that same 1849 pattern. The design that began as one maker's answer to chaos became the shape the whole chess world agreed upon.
The Match of the Century: What Made the 1972 Fischer vs Spassky Game a Global Moment?
By 1972 the Staunton pattern had been the world standard for well over a century. When Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky met in Reykjavik, Iceland, for the World Chess Championship, the pieces between them followed the form first set down in London in 1849.
The match is widely remembered as 'The Match of the Century'. It was far more than a sporting contest. Set at the height of the Cold War, it became a proxy battle between the United States and the Soviet Union, fought not with weapons but with ideas on a board.
Fischer was brilliant, volatile and unpredictable. Spassky was the composed Soviet champion, defending a dominance his country had held over the game for decades. The contrast between them gripped audiences who had never followed chess before.
The drama began before the first move. Fischer's demands, his late arrival and his forfeit of one game turned the contest into front-page news around the world. For a few weeks in the summer of 1972, chess was the most talked-about game on the planet.
Fischer went on to defeat Spassky 12.5 to 8.5, taking the title and ending Soviet control of the championship. The victory made him a household name and drew millions of new players to the board.
We have written more about that extraordinary contest in our full account of the Fischer Spassky 1972 match of the century. It is a story worth reading in full.
What endures is the quiet fact that the pieces at the centre of that global moment carried a design born in a London workshop, the same pattern you will find in our chess sets today.
Why Jaques Chess Sets Are Still Made the Same Way Over 175 Years Later
More than 175 years after the Staunton pattern was registered, the way these sets are made has changed remarkably little. The reason is simple: the original method produces pieces that are hard to improve upon.
The pieces are still turned from wood, shaped and weighted so they sit confidently on the board. A well-made knight, carved rather than cast, remains the clearest sign of a quality set, and it is where real craftsmanship shows.
Weighting matters as much as shape. A piece that stands firm through a long game, and settles cleanly when placed, changes how the whole game feels. These are details a serious player notices within minutes.
Every set is checked against modern UKCA and CE safety standards before it leaves the workshop. Heritage and safety are not opposites; a set made to last and made to be handled with confidence belongs in a family home.
That same philosophy runs through everything the firm produces. The care given to a chess knight is the same care given to the figures in our wooden toys and the pieces in our board games.
It extends to the garden and the lawn, too, from our boule to the generous range within our children toys. A good game, made well, should be enjoyed and then passed on.
A chess set made to the 1849 pattern is not a replica of history. It is history still in use, sitting on kitchen tables and in tournament halls, waiting for the next match to begin.
Shop the range: The Match of the Century & Jaques of London's Chess Heritage
Our most relevant picks, made by a British family company since 1795.
Frequently Asked Questions About The Match Of The Century
What was the match of the century in chess?
The Match of the Century refers to the 1972 World Chess Championship between American Bobby Fischer and Soviet champion Boris Spassky, held in Reykjavik, Iceland. Fischer defeated Spassky 12.5–8.5 to become World Chess Champion. The match captured global attention far beyond the chess world, partly due to Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. It remains one of the most celebrated and dramatic contests in chess history.
Who invented the Staunton chess set?
The Staunton chess set was designed by Nathaniel Cook and registered under the UK Design Registry in 1849. Cook was associated with Jaques of London, who manufactured the set. To give the design credibility and visibility, Cook secured the endorsement of Howard Staunton, the leading English chess player of the era. Staunton's endorsement appeared in the Illustrated London News in September 1849, and the set subsequently became known by his name rather than its designer's.
Is the Staunton chess set British?
Yes, the Staunton chess set is entirely British in origin. It was designed by Nathaniel Cook in 1849 and manufactured by Jaques of London, a British games and toys company founded in 1795. The set was endorsed by Howard Staunton, the leading English chess player of the 1840s, with his endorsement published in the Illustrated London News in September 1849. Jaques of London, one of the oldest games manufacturers in the world, continues to produce Staunton chess sets to this day.
Why is it called the Staunton chess set?
The chess set is named after Howard Staunton (1810–1874), who was considered the strongest chess player in the world during the 1840s. When Nathaniel Cook designed the set in 1849, he secured Staunton's public endorsement, which appeared in the Illustrated London News in September 1849. Staunton's fame and reputation gave the design immediate authority and widespread appeal. Although Staunton did not design the pieces himself, his name became permanently attached to the pattern, which went on to become the global standard for competitive chess.
When was the Staunton chess set created?
The Staunton chess set was designed by Nathaniel Cook and registered under the UK Design Registry in 1849. Howard Staunton, then regarded as the world's strongest chess player, publicly endorsed the design in the Illustrated London News in September 1849. The set was manufactured by Jaques of London, a British company founded in 1795. Since its introduction, the Staunton pattern has become the universally recognised standard for competitive chess and remains in production by Jaques of London today.
Who is Jaques of London?
Jaques of London is a British games and toys manufacturer founded in 1795, making it one of the oldest such companies in the world. The company is closely associated with the history of chess, having manufactured the original Staunton chess set in 1849 — the design endorsed by leading player Howard Staunton in the Illustrated London News that September. Beyond chess, Jaques of London has played a significant role in codifying and popularising numerous classic games throughout its long history.
What is the oldest chess set manufacturer in the world?
Jaques of London, founded in 1795, is one of the oldest games and toys manufacturers in the world and has a strong claim to being the oldest established manufacturer of Staunton chess sets. The company produced the original Staunton chess set in 1849, designed by Nathaniel Cook and endorsed by chess champion Howard Staunton in the Illustrated London News in September of that year. Jaques of London has been manufacturing chess sets continuously since then, making it one of the most historically significant chess set producers in existence.
Where did chess originate?
Chess is widely believed to have originated in India, with early forms of the game — known as chaturanga — dating back to around the 6th century AD. From India, the game spread to Persia, where it became known as shatranj, and was later adopted and developed across the Islamic world and into medieval Europe. Over centuries, the rules evolved into the modern game recognised today. The verified facts available here relate to Jaques of London's chess history rather than the ancient origins of chess specifically.
Why was the 1972 Fischer vs Spassky match called the match of the century?
The 1972 World Chess Championship between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, Iceland, is widely referred to as the Match of the Century because of its extraordinary global significance. Beyond chess, the contest was seen as a symbolic Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. Fischer, an individual American challenger, faced Spassky, representing the dominant Soviet chess establishment. Fischer's 12.5–8.5 victory captivated audiences worldwide, bringing chess to mainstream public attention on an unprecedented scale and making it one of the most dramatic sporting events of the 20th century.
What chess sets did Jaques of London make for famous matches?
Jaques of London is the original manufacturer of the Staunton chess set, the design endorsed by Howard Staunton — considered the world's strongest chess player in the 1840s — in the Illustrated London News in September 1849. The Staunton pattern subsequently became the global standard for competitive chess. Jaques of London, founded in 1795, has been producing Staunton chess sets since that original 1849 registration. Specific verified details about which Jaques sets were used at particular famous matches, including the 1972 Fischer–Spassky match, are not confirmed within the verified facts available here.