Simpson's renowned establishment was opened by Mr. Samuel
Ries on its present site 100 and 101 Strand in 1828. It was soon
found to afford the most admirable facilities for the quiet and
comfortable enjoyment of chess, and hence became greatly
appreciated and proportionately patronized, and has always been
regarded by the best and most impartial friends of chess with
sentiments of extraordinary partiality.
Its influence on the practice and development of chess has been
of a very remarkable character, and of the first and highest
importance, and notwithstanding the migration of some of its
members on the occasions of the formation of the ill-fated
Westminster and West End Chess Clubs in 1867 and 1875, and
again on the institution of the present British Chess Club in
1885, its popularity is maintained to this day.
The chess events, anecdotes, and reminiscences of Simpson's
must ever form a most interesting chapter in the English or
National history of chess for the Nineteenth century, and is
intimately linked with that of the whole chess world. As the
arena of the finest and most brilliant chess play Simpson's still
stands, and has ever done so, pre-eminently first, from the time of
A. McDonnell of Belfast, and L. de La Bourdonnais of Paris, and
their first appearance there in 1828 and 1829 to the present day,
and it is there (and there alone) that can still be witnessed in
this country a competition or tournament open to all comers
conceived in the spirit of pure enthusiasm only, and it is to
Simpson's that lovers of the game must still resort if they wish
to see really fine contests between the recognized greatest
players. It was here that H. T. Buckle, the writer and author in
1849 gained leading honours in the first tournament ever held on
British soil, or so far as is known, on any soil. About this time
it was that the school of young players with some of whose games
the public have become familiarized and pleased in later years,
begun to radiate, educate, and progress. Bird as a boy, became a
favourite opponent of Mr. Buckle, so early as 1846. Boden soon
followed, and by the year 1851, both had, it was supposed, reached
about the force of Mr. Buckle, and were hailed with welcome as
British chess representatives of the highest class, and at this
period and for a quarter of a century afterwards no games were
watched with greater interest than those in the love contests
between Boden and Bird, and no names are more familiarly associated
with Divan chess play. The former has departed this life, but the
latter still plays, having within the past year or two, twice
secured first prize in Simpson's Tournaments, and first position in
1889 and third in 1890, though his forte is rather for rapid and
lively play, which he cultivates now rather more than in his younger
days, otherwise his style of 1848 and 1852 compared with 1873, 1889
and 1892 remains the same in its characteristic features. Bird's
games with Anderssen in 1852 (his best performance), with those
against Morphy in 1858, Steinitz in 1866, and Wisker (British
Champion) in 1873, rank among the most notable encounters at
Simpson's. Among the most recent events of the greatest interest at
Simpson's have been the visit of Dr. Tarrasch, of Nuremberg,
after his great International victory at Manchester, the splendid
performance of young Loman the Dutch Champion in Simpson's
Spring Tournament (following his grand City of London successes
and that in Holland). The recent games of Blackburne and Bird,
and Lasker and Bird have been other events of popular
chess interest.
To return to old times, (to boyhood days), it was during the
years 1844 to 1850 that English ascendancy in chess first became
universally recognized. As noticed in the History of Chess
elsewhere the supremacy of chess in past ages back to the Sixth
century, when Persia (as well as China received chess from India)
has alternately rested with Arabia, Spain, Italy and France,
while the question of the hour now is whether Germany or England is
best entitled to claim possession of the chess sceptre. The famous
series of contests in 1834 at the old Westminster Chess Club in
Bedford Street, Covent Garden, between McDonnell and de La
Bourdonnais may certainly be regarded as the inauguration of
the spirited matches between individuals and representatives,
both International and National, which have since become so
popular. The following was the result of this great conflict,
La Bourdonnais won 41, McDonnell 29, and there were 13 drawn.
The Evans attack, which had been invented by Capt. W. D. Evans
in 1830, was played 23 times: the attack won 15, the defence 5,
and 3 were drawn. These memorable contests are generally
considered to have given the first great impetus to International
chess competition which became further cemented and consolidated
by the match between the Champions of England and France,
Staunton and St. Amant in 1843, and the first World's Tournament
held at the St. George's Chess Club Rooms in Cavendish Square,
London, in 1851. Staunton maintained his title to the British
Championship until this great International event took place which
was signalized by the decisive victory of Prof. Anderssen, of
Breslau. Staunton made no real effort to recover his laurels
afterwards or to in any way reassert English claims to supremacy.
The foreign players, after the Tournament, Szen, Lowenthal,
Kiezeritzky, Mayet, Jaenisch, Harrwitz and Horwitz frequented
Simpson's and Anderssen (like Morphy seven years later) greatly
favoured the place, and readily engaged in skirmishes of the more
lively enterprising, and brilliant description in which he ever
met a willing opponent in Bird, who, though a comparatively young
player, to the surprise and gratification of all spectators, made
even games. This young player who it seems had acquired his utmost
form at this time, also won the two only even games he ever played
with Staunton, and also two from Szen, which occasioned yet more
astonishment, the last-named having been regarded by many
deemed good judges, the best player in the world before the
Tournament was held, and even in higher estimation than his
fellow countryman Lowenthal, and considered not inferior to
Staunton himself. Judging from the success of this the youngest
player who was certainly not superior if equal to Buckle or Boden,
it is not unreasonable to conclude that Staunton with his greater
experience and skill, had he possessed the same temperament as
Bird, and at the slow time limit which suited him as well as it
has Steinitz (his exact counterpart in force and style) would
have regained his ascendancy for Great Britain. It is undoubtedly
owing to the opportunities at Simpson's that Boden and Bird so
rapidly acquired first rank and the partial withdrawal of the
former, and the entire relinquishment of chess by the latter from
1852 to 1858 was unfortunate for English chess renown, for on
the appearance of the phenomenon, Paul Morphy, and Staunton's
default in meeting him, there was no English player in practise
able to do honor to Morphy over the board, except a new comer,
Barnes; and Boden and Bird, but acquiesced in a general wish,
(albeit an equal pleasure to themselves) in revisiting Simpson's to
play with the subsequently found to be invincible Morphy.
Simpson's Divan was naturally the first resort of the
incomparable Paul Morphy, and he greatly preferred it to any other
chess room he ever saw, he even went so far as to say it was
"very nice," which was a great deal from him, the most
undemonstrative young man we ever met with. Certainly nothing else in
London, from St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey and the Tower to
our Picture Galleries and Crystal Palace, not even the Duke of
Wellington's Equestrian Statue, elicited such praise from him as
"very nice," at least as applied to any inanimate object.
Louis Paulsen arriving from America in 1861, at once visited
the Divan and played twelve games blindfold simultaneously
there against a very powerful team amid much enthusiasm, it
being the earliest exhibition among us on so large a scale. Morphy
had in 1858 played eight games blindfold both in Birmingham
and Paris. This was 63 years after Philidor's exhibition of two
games blindfold (and one over the board) a performance then
thought marvellous, and which it was predicted would not be
believed or attempted in any future generation. However we read
of A. McDonnell playing without seeing the board and men in
1830. Bilguer in like manner did so sometime before his death
in 1841. La Bourdonnais in 1842, and Harrwitz at Hull in 1847,
but neither more than two games. Paulsen in the West of America
1855-6-7, was the first to accomplish ten or twelve games blindfold,
which he did with very marked success. Steinitz from Prague,
who for twenty-two years, from 1867 to 1889, has been regarded
as chess champion of the world, at the usual slow time limit is
now residing in Brooklyn, New York. Soon after his arrival from
Vienna in 1862 he became a tolerably regular attendant at
Simpson's, and it was through this that his appointment of Chess
Editor to the "Field" arose, as well as that of Mr. Hoffer who
superseded him in that post. Mr. Walsh, chief Editor of the
"Field," had been for many years a constant visitor at Simpson's,
and the column for a long time was not favourable to our chess
interests. Foreign influence and views became far too
conspicuously manifested. The great English chess players were of a
retiring nature after the disappearance of the powerful Staunton
and Captain Kennedy, and the retirement of the genial
McDonnell; Boden was as reserved as Buckle or as Morphy, Bird
cared only for his game. Such eggs of chess patronage as
continued to exist, somehow or other always found their way into
one and the same basket, to which no British master could have
access. No eminent English player had any voice in chess
management, and though the Jubilee year's proceedings, bid fair
to balance matters on a more cosmopolitan basis, the facts
remain that for the three last German Tournaments at Frankfort,
Breslau and Dresden, neither Lee nor Pollock, the youngest, nor
Bird, the oldest master, could on either occasion manage to
participate.
Small, but very enjoyable first class Tournaments have been
held at Simpson's, which have always evoked a considerable degree
of enthusiasm, and at times stimulated energy in the constituted
authorities, and been productive of Tournaments on a larger scale
elsewhere.
Notwithstanding that the Mammoth laws of Limited Liability
in 1867, absorbed the gorgeous and spacious Divan Saloon, for the
present ladies dining room, and somewhat lessened the chess
accommodation, the distinguishing characteristics of the place
have remained unchanged, while the glorious chess events and
reminiscences continue nearly as vividly fixed in the recollection
as ever.
The interest felt in the associations of Simpson's, have in fact
continued unabated from the days of the supremacy of La
Bourdonnais, Staunton, and Morphy, to the time of Steinitz's
appearance in 1862, and, to the triumphs of Blackburne, Cap.
Mackenzie and Gunsberg in our own days, and Bird the winner of the
Tournament just held there, who has frequented the room for
forty-five years, still plays the game, with a vigour equal to that
displayed against the greatest foreign players in 1852, and with
scarcely less success. The transactions in chess connected with
Simpson's for the last quarter of a century, would fill a good size
volume, only including events of the greatest interest to chess
players. The lapse of the British Chess Association of 1862, and
the wane of the less successful B.C.A. of 1885, during a period
when chess has been making such rapid strides that clubs have
more than doubled, is a very remarkable feature in modern chess
play and its management. The seven years operations and
accounts of the present British Chess Association, though it had
the advantage of such names as Tennyson, Ruskin, Churchill and
Peel, on its presidential list, have not resulted in one half the
patronage, accorded to the Tournaments of 1851 and 1883, mainly
promoted by one single club, (the St. Georges') at times when no
Association of a public kind, ostensibly for the support,
improvement, and extension of worthy chess existed.
The eminent masters of the art of chess, registered in the list
of the British Chess Association of 1862, numbered 30, now there
are but 10, such has been the effect of the management of a game
yearly and daily increasing in favourable estimation, and the
practice of which, judging from the increase of chess clubs, press
notice and favour, sale of chess equipages of all kinds, and other
indications conclusively prove, must have increased at least
ten-fold in the present generation.
Simpson's has done most to assist in cultivating force and style
in chess, and to prevent it becoming the idle amusement which
at least one great philosopher has told us it is not, and ought not
to be, and the only three recognized new masters which have risen
up in the Metropolis during the present generation, can be
directly traced to its opportunities and influence. This same
period has witnessed the rise and fall of two chess clubs, the
Westminster formed in 1867, at Covent Garden, and the West
End in Coventry St., in 1875, both (wonderfully successful at
first), having lamentably failed through the predominating card
influence and lack of undivided fealty and devotion to their
legitimate and avowed objects, viz., the chivalrous practice and
earnest cultivation of the noble and royal game of chess. Cards
and social pleasures (so called) cliquism, with the principles of
mutual admiration so strongly in force there, have already
seriously undermined the constitution of the British Chess Club,
or the British Club as it is now more properly called, and the fate
of this third combination from its original avowed point of view
that is for chess purposes, may be considered as virtually sealed,
unless chess be at once restored to something nearer approaching
its acknowledged true position.
At Simpson's of our own countrymen, A. McDonnell in 1829,
and Howard Staunton in 1842, each first in fame of his time, and
the two greatest British chess players who ever lived mostly
practiced.
Steinitz admits that his pre-eminency in chess is greatly due to
the facilities of Simpson's, and the courtesies of his early
opponents. The luxurious couches, tables, and mirrors, (NOTE. When
Bird first visited Simpson's and was playing his first game, he
became uneasy at finding so great a mirror at his back, and was
greatly troubled at the bare possibility of his coming in contact
with it. He was however completely reassured by John, who solemnly
informed him that the glass was thicker than his head, and much
less likely to crack.) with the splendid light afforded, tempted
many visitors who played not chess, to resort there for pleasing
converse, combined with ease and comfort, and a record of the
distinguished men who have been seen in the Divan, would make an
illustrious list. H. T. Buckle (already referred to as most eminent
of amateur players) in his chess references, calls Simpson's a
favourite half holiday resort, for an occasional change and
striking relief in a game of chess, so different from his usual
meditative pursuits, and the arena and play of chess, has been so
regarded by eminent men of all grades and branches of knowledge.
Among other English chess players of the past and present generation,
that have come into front rank there, are Boden and Bird, the
most successful of the young rising players during Staunton's ten
years chess reign. No games on record seem to have occasioned more
interest than the contests between these two favourite opponents,
unfortunately neither made any practice of recording games, which
is rather a subject of regret, for they were much in request by
chess editors in England as well as in America and Germany. The
few on record owe their preservation mostly to lookers on, who took
them down. Boden and Bird were never known to play for a stake, not
even for the time honored and customary shilling. In 1852 Barnes,
and a few years later Cap. Mackenzie, the Rev. G. A. MacDonnell,
and Cecil de Vere, began to adorn the first class chess circle, in
1862 our unsurpassed Blackburne appeared to the front almost
simultaneously with Steinitz, and ten years later the amiable Dr.
Zukertort (the winner of the Paris International of 1878, and the
great London "Criterion" Tournament of 1883), came to this
country, and was destined to create nearly as much sensation in
chess circles as Paul Morphy (who appeared 14 years before him,
and 4 before Steinitz and Blackburne) had done, and it may be
safely asserted that Dr. Zukertort's play in 1883, has never been
surpassed even by Morphy's and Anderssen's very best
performances, though Anderssen excelled both in fertility of invention.
The "fondness" of Dr. Zukertort, like that of his distinguished
Berlin townsman, Anderssen the renowned winner of 1851, 1862
and 1870), for Simpson's, and its Associations was very great, and
increased very much towards the latter part of his life, and the
place has always formed a strong bond of union between Foreign
and English players. Zukertort was engaged in conversation
with the writer and others, in his usual genial manner, and spent
some happy hours with us on the evening preceding his death.
Every true lover of chess must appreciate the chivalry and good
feelings always observable in chess play at Simpson's. There
only leading players for mutual pleasure and without stake, and
to the interest of spectators play many an emulatory game which
may bear comparison with the best of the few good ones to be
found in the most recent tedious chess matches played for amounts
not thought of in previous times, and sufficient to disconcert and
make timid both of the opponents. With our Foreign visitors,
Simpson's Divan is the first resort to meet old friends, to hear
chess news, to compare notes, and to discuss topics of interest.
It is a kind of landmark, or where the pilot comes aboard. When
they do not dine at Simpson's, which is regarded as "par
excellence," but retire to Darmstatters, the Floric or the Cheshire
Cheese for refreshment, the Divan is yet the Appetizer, or Sherry
and Bitter starting point, in fact, wherever the abodes of our
distinguished chess brethren may be, Simpson's is always the centre
and home of friendly attraction throughout their stay in this
country, and so long as harmony and good feeling prevails it is
ever likely to continue so.
For Clubs may come, and Clubs may go,
And make us ask what's next to see;
But Simpson's ever should remain,
The place for Chess in ecstacy.
The above article was run off for the late deeply lamented
Captain Mackenzie, the amiable and dignified United States
Chess Champion, on one of his visits here. I dedicate it to our
surviving foreign visitors.