Tag: Asa Hoffman

Taking Down the French

November 5th, 2011 · · -, Annotated Games, French Defense, Games, Openings No comments - Tags: , , ,

Here are a couple miniatures against the French defense that I found amusing. The first one is against the legend, Mednis, who surprisingly fell into a mating attack very early in a French-Winawer. The game is taken from Asa Hoffmann’s book, Chess Gladiator which is full of such sporting miniatures and highly creative play reflective of Asa’s signature madman style.


The second game is also by Hoffmann, though this one is not in his book and is one that he shared with me one night at the Marshall Chess Club. It’s an Alekhine-Chatard attack, a variation of the French I often play against players I’m certain that they will not immediately respond with 4…dxe4, entering the morozevich-burn variation as advocated by creative madman Dzindzashvili. The Alekhine-Chatard attack is just too good to be true. White’s attack really plays itself and there are an inconceivable number of “natural” looking moves that black can play that lead to his destruction (such as an early c5 allowing Nb5! to only name one.)

In any case, the following game contains a painfully long king march that Asa claims to have spotted from move 10 on through it’s conclusion. The move 10…Nf8 is an obviously blunder. While the knight often ends up on this square in the Alekhine-Chatard, in this exact position where the tactical shot Nxd5 is available, it is clearly not correct. From move 11 on, mate is inevitable.

Two Knight’s Defense: Modern Attack

April 21st, 2011 · · -, 1. e4 e5, Games, Modern Attack, New York Chess, Openings, Two Knight's Defense No comments - Tags: , ,

If you play 1.e4 and wish to avoid the Spanish, than the Italian game with 3.Bc4 is the best option. Black’s logical responses are basically the Two Knights Defense, 3…Bc5(Italian game), or the Hungarian (3…Be7.) Naturally, against 3…Bc5 the Evans gambit is a fun option, but against the two knights defense I think the modern attack 4.d4 is actually easier and more straightforward than the mainline 4.Ng5. Here are three games from a big proponent of the variation, Asa Hoffmann.

I myself have had a lot of luck with this line in blitz games as of late. Some common themes for white are using his e and f pawns as battering rams to attack black’s kingside or in the alternative threaten to create a passed pawn. Black’s queenside dark square weaknesses are a key thematic idea as well, such that after the opening, if you remove all of the pieces from the board, the simple king and pawn ending would be winning for white, so white has that as an insurance policy in the middle game should he need it. Another idea worth mentioning comes from GM Dzindzichashvili, who advocates white develop his queenside knight to c3, allowing his pawns to be doubled. This is a theme we see in the following games as well.

When I asked Asa Hoffmann why he plays this line his answer answer was pretty simple: “It gives great practical attacking chances!”

The Pribyl Defense

March 29th, 2011 · · -, Annotated Games, Games, New York Chess, Openings, sidelines, uncommon No comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

The following game is amusing for a number of reasons. First of all, it is the only time that my fellow Marshall Chess Club compatriot Ed Frumkin has defeated FM Asa Hoffmann in tournament chess, and he did it with Hoffmann’s favorite opening, 1.Nc3. Secondly, we see the Pribyl tackled head on with a king-side pawn avalanche that effortlessly opens lines and decimates black’s position.

Having said that, I rather like the Prybil. First of all, no one has heard of it, and most people will immediately take it as an inferior Pirc, which it probably is. However, the benefit of the Prybil lies not so much in its surprise value, but in its ability to transpose into other favorable systems, often into a kind of French with the light square bishop outside the pawn-chain. The following game-annotations are by Mr. Frumkin himself. Enjoy!

Asa Hoffmann Lecture at Spectacle, Tuesday March 22nd @ 8 p.m.

March 10th, 2011 · · -, Annotated Games, Evan's Gambit, Games, New York Chess, NYC related posts, Openings 2 comments - Tags: , , , , ,

Brooklyn 64 is sponsoring a lecture by legend Asa Hoffmann this month at Spectacle. The event space is suggesting at 5 to 10 dollar donation per guest, and the topic will most likely be uncommon opening ideas. I expect Asa will go over some of his own games in his signature witty style, quizzing the audience for ideas and variations.

Asa is a cornerstone of the New York City chess scene. He is at the Marshall Chess Club almost every evening, where he teaches, plays in tournaments regularly, occasionally lectures, and is an active member of the board. He was also formerly the vice president of the Manhattan Chess Club. To give a taste of his tactical brilliance, behold the following masterpiece in which he trounces Bobby Fischer:

Spectacle is an independent, not-for-profit theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY that screens hard to find and out of print films, silent movies, and hosts symposiums and presentations. It’s located at 124 South 3rd Street, Brooklyn, New York; between Bedford Avenue and Berry Street.

Directions

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The Dunst: Attacking the Caro-Kann with an Early Queen Sortie

February 2nd, 2011 · · -, Annotated Games, Caro-Kann, Games, Openings, uncommon 17 comments - Tags: , , , , , , ,

Usually, surprising sidelines tend to be objectively dubious, but the following is totally sound according to several sources (I’m keeping some of them under my hat.) The idea I have in mind is similar to the Caro-Kann “two-knights,” which occurs after 1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3. Here, white holds back the d-pawn at least for a while and simply develops. This line was a favorite of Fischer’s, but it doesn’t cause black any immediate trouble and his plans are straight forward and in keeping with the themes of the Caro-Kann. However, after the move 3.Qf3!? instead of 3.Nf3, we have the following eye popping position, which may occur through several move orders but properly belongs to the 1.Nc3 Dunst opening more than any other.

I hope to show that this position is more than playable for white- it is sound- and moreover black has no clear path to equality. This may be reached through a number of different move orders, including the Scandinavian 1.e4 d5 2.Nc3 c6 3.Qf3, as well as through the Dunst via 1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 c6 3.Qf3. Here, there a number of moves that look playable for black. There are: d4, e6, Nf6, e5 and dxe4. Black is immediately confronted in the center and must decide on a plan early. This position will almost certainly be a surprise to your opponent, who will no doubt think that the queen sortie is incorrect and therefore try to “punish” you. The upside to this is getting out of book and playing chess. The queen sortie is perfectly sound and supported by some theory, and this idea was first pointed out to me by Asa Hoffman who uses it regularly. He said he got it from a book on 1.Nc3 by Keilhack, titled “Der Linksspringer.” Since then, I have seen it in a few different places, and even had a brief conversation with Yaacov Norowitz (who plays the caro-kann exclusively) about it. Norowitz seemed to think it wasn’t that frightening for black, but admitted that he had wrestled with how to meet it and decided upon the straightforward move 3…e5, but seemed a little uncertain still.

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An Antidote for Sideline Sicilians

January 31st, 2011 · · -, O'Kelly, Openings, Sicilian Defense 7 comments - Tags: , , ,

As a Sicilian player, there are a number of sidelines I hate to see. 2.c3 doesn’t really bother me, since I play that myself and know the system well, but when white plays 2.Nc3, concealing his intentions and waiting for me to commit, I sometimes find myself playing a position I’m not terribly pleased with, particularly if white then goes in for a grand prix attack. Generally, I play the Sveshnikov, which means I have to be prepared for a Rossolimo as well, but for some reason the grand prix attack bothers me while the Rossolimo hasn’t posed me any issues. I know the ideas behind the grand prix, I sometimes play it myself, but that wall of pawns is menacing and if I’ve already committed myself to certain piece placements then my dark squares become weak and I feel like a sitting duck to obvious attacking plans. Well… I will never suffer such passivity again. 2…a6! is the answer! This bit of wisdom was imparted to me by Asa Hoffman recently, and in the few blitz sessions I have played recently I can tell you that it has helped me get over the grand prix hurdle. It basically invites white to play a Closed Sicilian, when black is able to get rapid expansion on the queen-side with a nice solid position with moves like: b5, e6, Ne7, and then break with d5 and you’re equal.

This idea of a useful but non-committal waiting move is so obvious I can’t believe I didn’t think of it myself. Naturally, if white wishes to play an open sicilian you may chose to go into a Kan or Taimanov. These two games illustrate the basic ideas, but any Sicilian player probably sees my point from the above text alone. 2.Nc3 has been recommended by a number of publications recently, and I can tell you that several of my friends play it exclusively when approaching the Sicilian with white.

The Czech Benoni: An Incredibly Instructive Game

January 16th, 2011 · · -, Annotated Games, Benoni, Games, uncommon No comments - Tags: , , , , ,


Last week I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Asa Hoffman at the Marshall Chess Club on “unorthodox openings.” Since Asa plays exclusively off-beat openings, the lecture was really a selection of his games which he thought were particularly instructive. One such game was the following, which I begged him for a copy of and he surprisingly allowed me to have. The game is instructive for a few reasons, but if nothing else it is an amazing introduction to the Czech Benoni with annotated ideas that give enough material to even start playing the opening immediately. Another reason I love this game is because of the interesting plans that Asa finds. The most aesthetically interesting one involves the geometric pattern he traces with his bishop in order to arrive at an ideal square.

A Blitz Blow-out in the Chigorin

January 11th, 2011 · · Chigorin, Games, Openings No comments - Tags: , , ,

This evening I attended a fantastic lecture at the Marshall by Asa Hoffman, who reviewed some of his games and gave some interesting ideas in uncommon openings. By the way, next month I plan on having him come out to Spectacle to give a lecture on one of them in detail, and will put up a post with the details of that event when I have them. In any case, while waiting around for the lecture to begin, I met a nice guy who was visiting NY from abroad and claimed to have a very impressive FIDE elo. We played 5 blitz games, I won two and lost three. I won’t brag about exactly how highly rated my opponent was because most of you likely wouldn’t believe it when you see how he played in the following game. I have only recently started playing the Chigorin, but I’m already falling in love with it. The piece activity that is possible makes it an awesome choice for blitz. In this game, my opponent was making moves on auto-pilot, playing what he thought was a safe queen’s pawn setup. There was nothing safe about it. The idea I outlined in an earlier post led to a crushing queen-side attack right out of the gate.

Enjoy-