The House of Staunton $500 Chess Set Giveaway!

Most - if not all - of you know that, here at the House of Staunton, we've been holding a sweepstakes contest during the pandemic. In the midst of the stress and burnout of living in quarantines and working from home, we wanted to bring a smile to our customers' faces. We appreciate everyone's participation!

Sweepstakes Winner

Our randomly drawn winner is Ryan L from Tallahassee, Florida, pictured here with his own little future grandmaster (we'll let you decide who is who in this cute picture)! Ryan has won a set of 1849 Collector Series Luxury Chess Pieces with 4.4" King from the Camaratta Collection in Blood Rosewood and Natural Boxwood - worth $539! If you want to take a better look at these luxurious historical reproduction pieces or you want to get one for yourself, you can find them here.

As do most of the sets sold by the House of Staunton, these chess pieces do include extra queens for pawn promotion, a standard introduced by the House of Staunton in 1993. The set is a very comfortable 5 pounds in median weight. The king is 4.4" with a 1.9725" base.

Chess Board Options

For a set this size, we recommend a board with 2.5" squares. You can browse many of those here, if you would like to see what we have available. These range in price from a very affordable $49 all the way up to $4500, with dozens of options in between to fit both your budget and style - not to mention your chess pieces.

History of These Chess Pieces

The 1849 Collector Series Luxury Chess set has been crafted to replicate the design and proportions of the original Staunton pattern Chessmen, registered by Nathaniel Cooke in March of 1849 and first manufactured by Jaques of London in September 1849. The distinctive feature of this set is the he open-mitered Bishop and Knight design, which is modeled after the noble steeds from the Greek Parthenon (Elgin Marbles).

Kingside Stamping

These beautiful pieces include kingside stamping. What is that, you ask?

Kingside stamping was part of the original Staunton pattern design, consisting of a King's Crown stamped into the Rook and Knight that started on the right side (or King's Side) of the chessboard. In Descriptive notation, it is useful for distinguishing between the Kingside and Queen's Side pieces.

We want to thank everyone who took the time and interest to be involved in our sweepstakes contest. Keep an eye out for future sweepstakes - we hope to be able to host many more!