Simpsons was opened in 1828 as Samuel Reiss’s Grand Cigar Divan, catering to smokers, and players of both chess and billiards.

Although many reports said that chess didn’t return, it was still played, if on a much smaller scale. Although the chessboard above the door dates from 1904, the foliage chess pieces hanging in front are much newer. There used to be generic hanging pot plants, until 2017 – when the restaurant closed for refurbishment, and opened a few months later, with the new giant chess pieces hanging either side of the doors. The place also developed as a coffee house, and there were also chess matches between various coffee houses, but over time Simpsons emerged as the leading place for the best players. Almost all the top players of the century played there at some stage, including Wilhelm Steinitz, Paul Morphy, Emanuel Lasker, Johannes Zukertort (who had a fatal stroke while playing there), and Siegbert Tarrasch.Then when you spot them, you look around and see more references to chess in the arch above the door. Have you ever wandered down Strand and noticed two large hanging chess pieces outside a famous restaurant?

Simpsons was bought by the owner of the Savoy Hotel in 1898, and in 1903 the restaurant closed for refurbishment caused by the slicing off its front due to road widening, reopening in 1904.In 1848, Reiss joined forces with the caterer John Simpson to expand the premises, renaming it “Simpson’s Grand Divan Tavern”, and it transformed into the restaurant that it has remained ever since.