Jaques of London is a family company that manufactures sports and game equipment. In operation since 1795, the company has also been known as
John Jaques of London and
Jaques and Son of London. "Jaques" is pronounced "Jakes".
Jaques had exclusive manufacturing rights for a
chess setChess pieces vary in both value and abilities. A standard chess match consists of each player having the following equipment:* 1 king* 1 queen* 2 rooks* 2 bishops* 2 knights* 8 pawns...
designed by
Nathaniel CookNathaniel Cook was the designer of a set of chess figures, which is now the standard set.He registered his design at the Patent Office on March 1, 1849 under the Ornamental Designs Act of 1842. As he was the editor of The Illustrated London News, the newspaper where Howard Staunton wrote a regular...
in 1849 and named the
Staunton chess setThe Staunton chess set is composed of a particular type of chess pieces used to play the game of chess. According to the rules of chess, this style is to be used for competitions. Nathaniel Cook is credited with the design, and they are named after Howard Staunton. The first 500 sets were hand...
after
Howard StauntonHoward Staunton was an English chess master who is generally regarded as having been the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Saint-Amant. He promoted a chess set that is still the standard...
. This set later became the official international standard.
They were also the first publishers of games such as
tiddlywinksTiddlywinks is an indoor game played with sets of small discs called "winks" lying on a surface, usually a flat mat. Players use a larger disc called a "squidger" to pop a wink into flight by pressing down on one side of the wink...
and
snakes and laddersSnakes and ladders, or Chutes and ladders, is a classic children's board game. It is played between 2 or more players on a playing board with numbered grid squares. On certain squares on the grid are drawn a number of "ladders" connecting two squares together, and a number of "snakes" or "chutes"...
.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Jaques of London' Start a new discussion about 'Jaques of London' Answer questions from other users |
Jaques of London is a family company that manufactures sports and game equipment. In operation since 1795, the company has also been known as
John Jaques of London and
Jaques and Son of London. "Jaques" is pronounced "Jakes".
Jaques had exclusive manufacturing rights for a
chess setChess pieces vary in both value and abilities. A standard chess match consists of each player having the following equipment:* 1 king* 1 queen* 2 rooks* 2 bishops* 2 knights* 8 pawns...
designed by
Nathaniel CookNathaniel Cook was the designer of a set of chess figures, which is now the standard set.He registered his design at the Patent Office on March 1, 1849 under the Ornamental Designs Act of 1842. As he was the editor of The Illustrated London News, the newspaper where Howard Staunton wrote a regular...
in 1849 and named the
Staunton chess setThe Staunton chess set is composed of a particular type of chess pieces used to play the game of chess. According to the rules of chess, this style is to be used for competitions. Nathaniel Cook is credited with the design, and they are named after Howard Staunton. The first 500 sets were hand...
after
Howard StauntonHoward Staunton was an English chess master who is generally regarded as having been the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Saint-Amant. He promoted a chess set that is still the standard...
. This set later became the official international standard.
They were also the first publishers of games such as
tiddlywinksTiddlywinks is an indoor game played with sets of small discs called "winks" lying on a surface, usually a flat mat. Players use a larger disc called a "squidger" to pop a wink into flight by pressing down on one side of the wink...
and
snakes and laddersSnakes and ladders, or Chutes and ladders, is a classic children's board game. It is played between 2 or more players on a playing board with numbered grid squares. On certain squares on the grid are drawn a number of "ladders" connecting two squares together, and a number of "snakes" or "chutes"...
. Their most popular game inventions were probably
croquetCroquet is a lawn game, played both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport, which involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing court.-History:...
,
table tennisTable tennis is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth with rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve, players must allow a ball played toward them only one bounce on their side of the table and must...
and happy families, all of which are still around to this day and in some cases are still very popular. One of their most recent products is Scattles.
A Jaques set was used by
Bobby FischerRobert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster, and the eleventh World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Later in life he renounced his US citizenship and became an Icelandic citizen.Fischer's achievements are legendary...
and
Boris SpasskyBoris Vasilievich Spassky is a Russian-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972....
in the 1972 World Chess Championship .
World War II
The Jaques of London factory along with the chessmen plans were destroyed in an
airstrikeAn air strike is a military strike by air forces or other military aviation assets against either a suspected or a confirmed enemy ground position. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as bombers, ground attack aircraft, strike fighters, and Attack helicopters. Weapons used in an...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.