great bard

Howard Staunton (April 1810 - June 22 1874) was an English chess master and unofficial World Chess Champion. He was also a newspaper columnist, author, and Shakespearean scholar. His name is remembered most today for the style of chess figures he endorsed, the Staunton pattern of chess pieces.Little is known about the life of Staunton before his appearance on the chess scene. He said he was born in Westmorland and his father's name was William. He said he was an actor as a young man, that he once played the role of Lorenzo in the Merchant of Venice and he had acted with the famous English actor Edmund Kean.