History of Chess in England

Chess came to Europe around a thousand years ago from the Arab countries. Then the moves of the pieces changed around the 15th century, this is the start of the modern game we play now. In the second half of the 19th century tournament play began.

The famous Isle of Lewis chessmen which were discovered in 1831 were 78 chess pieces made in the 12th century. hey are owned and exhibited by the British Museum in London, which has 67 of the original pieces, and the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, which has the remaining 11 pieces.

Two kings and two queens from the Uig, or Lewis chessmen 
at the British Museum.

Chess clocks were first used in 1883, and the first world chess championship was held in 1886. The 20th century saw advances in chess theory, and the establishment of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). Chess engines (programs that play chess), and chess data bases became important.

In the early 1800s there was no organised chess, as we know it today. Serious play was confined to match games between the few masters for a purse, such matches being played usually at one of the well-known chess meeting rooms in London.

England along with Paris became the cornerstone of international chess and in 1851, the first international chess tournament was held in London, organised by the legendary Howard Staunton. It was held alongside the Great Exhibition, held in Crystal Palace. The tournament was a 16 player knock-out event, with a similar format to the British tournament taking place in Olympiad right now. The line-up was quite star-studded for that time, but players had to turn down a place for unfortunate reasons. For example, Vincent Grimm of Hungary was exiled in Aleppo!

Adolf Anderssen, a school teacher of Germany was eventually victorious in this event and Staunton came a disappointing 4th place. Adolf Anderssen, in full Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen, (born July 6, 1818, Breslau, Prussia [now Wrocław, Poland]—died March 13, 1879, Breslau), chess master considered the world's strongest player from his victory in the first modern international tournament (London, 1851) until his defeat (1858)




It’s evident that chess politics dates way back, as even for this revolutionary event in 1851, there was a big rivalry with the London Chess Club that led them to try and boycott the event. Obviously, the reasons for this rivalry will be hearsay now, but there are some old scriptures seen in George Walker’s old column, A Bell’s Life, which was trying to sabotage the event. Despite all of this, Staunton was able to raise a prize fund of £500, which probably equates to around £400,000 now!