Notable Games
- 1840 Staunton, Howard vsNN 1-0 King's Gambit Accepted: Greco Gambit 29 moves London Casual London, 1840 — a King's Gambit from the start of Staunton's serious career, and one long sacrifice. The rook goes on h8, the knight on e5, and after 19.f8=Q+ the black king is chased from f8 to a4 and mated in the open, 29.Qa3#.
- 1841 Cochrane, John vsStaunton, Howard 0-1 Bishop's Opening: Lewis Gambit 20 moves Casuals Staunton-Cochrane Against John Cochrane, the barrister-turned-master who was Staunton's regular sparring partner in the early 1840s. Staunton meets the Lewis Gambit by returning the bishop at once, seizes the g-file, and finishes with a smothered mate, 19…Rg1+ 20.Rxg1 Nf2#.
- 1841 NN vsStaunton, Howard 0-1 King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Bledow Variation 22 moves Staunton sim London, 1841 — from a simultaneous display. Staunton answers the Bishop's Gambit with the counter-thrust 3…d5, wins a rook with 12…Nxh1+, and closes with a bishop sacrifice on g2 that leaves White facing 22…Nh4+ and the loss of the queen.
- 1842 Cochrane, John vsStaunton, Howard 0-1 Sicilian Defense: Bowdler Attack 9 moves Casuals Staunton-Cochrane Nine moves against Cochrane, and one of the shortest decisive games in the whole archive. The premature 6.Qe2 and 7.Qe4 leave the white queen with no square: 7…g5 8.g3 d5 9.exd6 f5 traps it in the middle of the board.
- 1842 Staunton, Howard vsCochrane, John 1-0 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Slow Variation 19 moves Casuals Staunton-Cochrane An Evans Gambit played the way Staunton's generation played it: the queen is offered on b3, and after 13.exf6 Nxb3 14.Re1+ Kd8 the bishops on e7 and f6 and the pawn on g7 leave Black paralysed, 18.Bxe6 winning outright.
- 1843.11.21 De Saint Amant, Pierre Charles Four vsStaunton, Howard 0-1 Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack 39 moves Match Staunton-Saint Amant +11-6=4 Paris, 1843 — the fifth game of the match with Saint-Amant, treated at the time as an unofficial world championship. Staunton's own 1…c5 holds the centre, then 30…g4 and 31…gxh3 crack the white king open. Contemporaries reported the Parisian spectators' dismay at seeing their champion so thoroughly beaten.
- 1843.11.23 Staunton, Howard vsDe Saint Amant, Pierre Charles Four 1-0 English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Normal Variation 47 moves Match Staunton-Saint Amant +11-6=4 Paris, 1843 — 1.c4, the opening Staunton did more than anyone to popularise and which still bears the name English. He liquidates into an endgame by move twenty, then wins it with the bishop pair and the queenside pawns.
- 1843.12.20 De Saint Amant, Pierre Charles Four vsStaunton, Howard 0-1 Queen's Gambit Declined 66 moves Match Staunton-Saint Amant +11-6=4 Paris, 1843 — sixty-six moves near the end of the match Staunton won 11–6 with four draws. A Queen's Gambit Declined decided in a long queen-and-rook endgame, with the c-pawn reaching c2 and the b-pawn following it.
- 1846 Staunton, Howard vsHorwitz, Bernhard 1-0 Dutch Defense: Queen's Knight Variation 12 moves Match Staunton-Horwitz +14-7=3 From the 1846 match with Bernhard Horwitz, which Staunton won by fourteen wins to seven. Twelve moves: 7.d5 opens the centre before Black has castled, and 11.Nc7+ Kd8 12.Ne6+ forks king and queen.
- 1851 Staunton, Howard vsHorwitz, Bernhard 1-0 English Opening: Agincourt Defense 46 moves London knockout London 1851 — the first international tournament, which Staunton himself organised. Another 1.c4, and a model of the slow English build-up: he waits until move thirteen to play e4, then squeezes the position for thirty moves before the kingside collapses.
- 1851 Staunton, Howard vsAnderssen, Adolf 1-0 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Anderssen Variation 30 moves London knockout London 1851 — Staunton's win over Adolf Anderssen, who went on to take first prize in the tournament and be acclaimed the strongest player alive. Staunton takes the c6 pawn, keeps the queenside pawns rolling with 17.b4, and mates on move thirty, 30.Qe8#.