Chess Treasures of Raymond Keene OBE
As a Chess Collector, my visit to the home of Raymond Keene was an eyeopener. I was not expecting the variety of…
chess history
Staunton, Shakespeare and Chess
Howard Staunton devoted years to editing Shakespeare, but was England's greatest chess master equally drawn to the Bard because Shakespeare himself understood…
Does the word chess originate with Julius Caesar’s name?
Do words carry hidden histories? Beginning with neglected lines from Hamlet and Tamburlaine, Grandmaster Raymond Keene follows an eccentric trail through Shakespeare,…
Did Leonardo da Vinci play chess?
What do Howard Staunton and Leonardo da Vinci have in common? Above all, a remarkable versatility, a capacity to excel across a…
Howard Staunton Society Celebrates World Chess Day with Grandmaster Ray Keene OBE
The Howard Staunton Society marked World Chess Day with an evening that reflected its mission of celebrating chess, history, culture and conviviality.…
The Staunton Suite
Howard Staunton lives on in Banbury. I openly confess that I am no expert on the life of Howard Staunton - but…
Empires of the Mind
“Via the squares on a chessboard, the Indians explain the movement of time and the age, the higher influences which control the…
Barry Martin - In Memoriam
For Barry Martin, chess was never merely a game and art was never merely an image. Somewhere between Staunton and Duchamp, the…
The Second Battle of Waterloo
Waterloo was not England's last great victory on French soil. In 1843, Howard Staunton crossed the Channel to fight a very different…
Defender of the Faiths
The first great chess grandmaster did not play in London, Paris or Moscow, but in the dazzling court of the Abbasid Caliphs.
Gens Una Sumus
Chess has crossed more frontiers than any army, conquered more hearts than any empire, and united more cultures than perhaps any other…
World Chess Day Comes to Soho with a Grandmaster Celebration at L'Escargot
The occasion holds particular significance in Soho, where L'Escargot, London's oldest French restaurant, has long been associated with British chess.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, German intellectuals and the First World War
Conan Doyle's attitude to war seems, from the tenor of this passage, to be one of stoic acceptance, rather than enthusiastic celebration.
Brave New Game
Every generation believes it has discovered a better way to improve humanity. Inevitably, it begins by rewriting the rules.
Smoke and Drinkers
Great minds rarely conform. The golden age of chess produced champions whose brilliance was matched only by their colourful eccentricities.
The Howard Staunton Society Dinner at L'Escargot
On Friday, 14th November 2025, The Howard Staunton Society marked a historic milestone in its 30-year history with a sold-out black-tie revival…