A new chess piece: the Snail
L’Escargot, Soho
There is a tendency to suppose that chess has always been played with the same pieces upon the same board. This is not so. In various ancient forms of chess some quite exotic pieces made their appearance. In the Great Chess of Alfonso the Wise of Spain, and in the extended version of the game favoured by the world conqueror Tamburlaine, the ordinary menagerie of chess was enlarged. We are familiar with the horse that represents the knight, but ambitious potentates in the Iberian Peninsula and on the Asian mainland were not content with such conventional restrictions. The rhinoceros, crocodile, camel and giraffe were among the creatures introduced by these chess-loving rulers, who naturally preferred to play on boards considerably larger than the standard sixty-four squares.
Now a new specimen of chess-related fauna has appeared on the scene, namely the snail.
L’Escargot, London’s oldest French restaurant, recently came into possession of a selection of regally antiquated, yet fully operable, chess boards and sets for the enjoyment of its clients. It is also one of the city’s oldest restaurants. The establishment occupies a Georgian townhouse on Greek Street in the heart of Soho. The building, dating from 1741, was formerly the private residence of the Duke of Portland.
The new chess connection is hardly surprising. The fons et origo of the chess link is that the manager at L’Escargot is none other than Brian Clivaz, formerly in charge of that Mecca of chess, Simpsons-in-the-Strand, notably during the 1993 World Chess Championship match between Nigel Short and Garry Kasparov. Brian is also a founding member of the Howard Staunton Society, which seeks to recognise and perpetuate the achievements of Howard Staunton (1810-1874), the only Englishman who could reasonably claim to have been world chess champion during the years 1843 to 1851.
In 1843 Staunton demolished the French champion St Amant. He then overcame the Central European masters Horwitz and Harrwitz in 1846, yielding the palm only to the immortal Adolf Anderssen in 1851.
The district of Soho itself began to be developed after the Great Fire of London in 1666, when more than 13,000 houses were destroyed and 100,000 Londoners rendered homeless. The area, then known as Soho Fields, lay within easy reach of the royal palaces of Westminster, Whitehall and St James’s, and thus offered an attractive site for the wealthy. The name Soho is said to derive from “so-ho”, a hunting cry commonly heard at the time.
The history of L’Escargot is almost as curious as that of the game of chess. The very concept of a “restaurant” was an import from France. In 1896, when Georges Gaudin established a restaurant at the lower end of Greek Street, a French restaurant was still a novelty in London. He called it Le Bienvenue and soon became famous for his snails, being the first restaurateur in England to serve the delicacy. When, in 1927, he moved to larger premises at 48 Greek Street, his customers implored him to rename the restaurant after its most celebrated dish. He agreed and called the new establishment L’Escargot Bienvenue. His snail farm in the basement became one of the curiosities of Soho. A plaster bust of Gaudin riding a snail, accompanied by the motto “slow but sure”, remains outside the restaurant to this day.
After his retirement his son Alex ran the restaurant, and it established itself as perhaps the finest French restaurant in London. Nick Lander and his wife, Jancis Robinson, Master of Wine, assumed control in 1981 and maintained its reputation. They employed Elena Salvoni, widely recognised as one of the outstanding restaurant managers of the 1980s, and regular patrons often referred to the establishment simply as “Elena’s Place”.
L’Escargot was refurbished in 1992 when Jimmy Lahoud and the chefs David Cavalier and Garry Hollihead took over the reins. Marco Pierre White became head chef after entering into partnership with Jimmy Lahoud at Quo Vadis in Dean Street, and the restaurant was voted Best French Restaurant in London and Best Restaurant in Soho.
In February 2014 L’Escargot was acquired by the self-same Brian Clivaz, together with Laurence Isaacson and a group of friends. In 2023 Thomas Hitzlsperger, the former Premier League footballer and entrepreneur, bought the restaurant, fortunately leaving the indispensable Brian Clivaz in situ and in command.
In February 2024 The Snail Club, a private members’ club, opened on the top floor of the restaurant. It is managed by Ima Von Wenden, publicist, author and spiritus rector of the Soho Film Festival. It goes almost without saying that L’Escargot has become the spiritual home of the Howard Staunton Society.
On 20 July, chess players throughout the world will celebrate World Chess Day, marking the anniversary of the founding of the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDÉ) in Paris in 1924. First observed following a UNESCO initiative and formally recognised by the United Nations in 2019, World Chess Day has become a global occasion promoting friendship, education and international understanding through the Royal Game. At a time when chess enjoys renewed popularity and remarkable growth, the day affords clubs, federations and individual enthusiasts an opportunity to reflect upon the peculiar ability of chess to unite people across cultures, generations and national boundaries.
For members and friends of the Howard Staunton Society the occasion also offers an opportunity to celebrate one of the Society’s oldest associations. Soho’s celebrated L’Escargot is closely connected with the Society through its proprietor, Brian Clivaz, one of the founding members of the Society and a legendary figure in British hospitality. Over many years the restaurant has generously hosted numerous chess gatherings, dinners and informal meetings of enthusiasts from around the world.
Although the restaurant is closed on Monday 20 July, members are warmly invited to visit on Tuesday 21 July for a relaxed and informal Dinner and an opportunity to enjoy a game using two historic sets of Staunton chessmen, both donated to and maintained by the Howard Staunton Society on the premises. There can scarcely be a more fitting setting in which to mark World Chess Day than over fine food, agreeable company and the world’s most famous chess pieces, bearing the name of Howard Staunton himself.
To join the Howard Staunton Society contact Ima Von Wenden at: info@stauntonsociety.com.
Stuanton vs. Horwitz
London, 1851
- c4 e6 2. Nc3 f5
I recall that for the opening round of the 1975 Teesside tournament, the great Soviet Grandmaster, David Bronstein, played 1. c4 against me, to honour his participation in a strong English tournament. It was in fact CHO’D Alexander Memorial tournament, thus named after the former English top board, team captain and leading light of the Bletchley Park codebreaker of the Nazi Enigma cypher.
- g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 c6 5. d3 Na6 6. a3 Be7 7. e3 O-O 8. Nge2 Nc7
Black’s play appears tortuous, but there is some method in his madness.
- O-O d5 10. b3
It was Staunton’s unusual patronage of the move 1. c4 which resulted in its becoming known as the English Opening. Staunton was fond of the double flank development of his bishops. It is, however, somewhat time-consuming and Horwitz should now have seized his opportunity to justify his hitherto concealed method, by occupying the centre with 10… e5.
10… Qe8 11. Bb2 Qf7 12. Rc1 Bd7 13. e4
Black has missed his chance. This delayed central thrust now announces that White has won the battle of the opening.
13… fxe4 14. dxe4 Rad8 15. e5 Nfe8 16. f4 dxc4 17. bxc4 Bc5+ 18. Kh1 Be3 19. Rb1 g6
This unnecessarily weakens the f6-square, from which Staunton profits.
- Qb3 Bc8 21. Ne4 Bb6 22. Rbd1 Na6 23. Qc3 Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Nc5 25. Nd6
25… Qc7
The Berlin star should have resorted to …Na4 in the hope of exchanging White’s valuable queen’s bishop.
- Qc2 Ng7 27. g4
This is the prelude to the decisive attack in which Staunton’s pieces swarm across the board to menace the Black king. First, Staunton restricts the possibilities of Black’s defensive knight on g7.
27… Qe7 28. Bd4 Qc7 29. a4 Na6 30. c5 Ba5 31. Qb3 b6 32. Ne4 bxc5 33. Nf6+ Kh8 34. Qh3 Ne8 35. Ba1
Staunton’s deployment of his forces creates a wonderfully aesthetic impression, highlighted by this sweeping retreat of the bishop which is nevertheless still firmly directed at the black king.
35… Nxf6 36. exf6 Kg8 37. Be5 Qb7 38. Be4 Qf7
If Black can blockade the passed pawn he may survive, but Staunton’s next brilliant stroke banishes such hopes.
- Ng1
A profound retreat. The piece is now free to manoeuvre by way of f3 to e5 or g5, thereby causing havoc among the defensive units surrounding the black king. This strategic solution is entirely characteristic of Staunton, though in fact the tactical continuation 39. f5 is also possible.
39… Bd8 40. g5 Bb7 41. Nf3 Re8 42. Bd6 Bxf6 43. gxf6 Qxf6 44. Ng5 Qg7 45. Be5 Qe7 46. Bxg6 Black resigns 1-0
Ray’s 206th book, “ Chess in the Year of the King ”, written in collaboration with Adam Black, and his 207th, “ Napoleon and Goethe: The Touchstone of Genius ” (which discusses their relationship with chess) can be ordered from both Amazon and Blackwell’s. His 208th, the world record for chess books, written jointly with the late chess playing artist, Barry Martin, Chess through the Looking Glass , is now also available from Amazon.
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