2011/12 Season Matches

Simpsons, The Strand, London

In eighteenth and nineteenth century London, the primary venues for playing chess were in coffee houses and taverns. In 1807 the 'London Chess Club' was founded in The City and met in 'Tom's Coffee-House' in Cornhill and later, from around 1840, in 'The George and Vulture Tavern', Cornhill. In 1828 the 'Cigar Divan' in The Strand was established as a meeting place for players. In 1848 this became 'Simpsons Grand Divan Tavern' and over the coming decades all the world's leading players, Anderssen, Kieseritzky, Lasker, Morphy, Staunton, Steinitz, Tarrasch and Zukertort darkened its portals. In 1851 it hosted what is recognized as the first major international chess tournament and shortly afterwards the Immortal Game. In 1888 Zukertort suffered a fatal stroke whilst playing in Simpsons and was buried in Brompton Cemetery.Simpsons was refurbished in 1904 and chess was no longer fostered and not to re-appear for over seventy-five years. In 1980 it hosted the finals of the National Club Champioships and in 2003 the 1st Staunton Memorial Tournament was held to commemorate 175 years of chess on the site.