Fisher - The Last Individualist in Chess

This week FM Asa Hoffman joins us for an interesting talk. Asa is an author, speed chess specialist, and New York City chess legend. Like Bobby Fischer, Asa was born in 1943, and both spent their formative years in NYC. With such shared history, Bobby Fischer is one of the many chess legends with whom Asa had personal encounters and blitz battles. In fact, Asa has met every chess World Champion who came after Max Euwe! He also has beaten Fischer in a famous blitz game, and once defeated Gata Kamsky in a rapid game. In our interview, Asa sheds light on the personality of Bobby Fischer and tells a few of his favorite stories from his encounters with countless chess legends who have passed through New York. Please read on for more details, timestamps and relevant links. 

0:00- What are Asa’s memories of Bobby Fischer? How does the current chess moment compare to the Fischer boom?

Mentioned: Hans Kmoch, Al Horowitz, Sylvia Miles, GM Yasser Seirawan, Bernard Zuckerman, Asa Hoffman vs. Bobby Fischer (blitz, 1963) 

13:00- Who are the strongest blitz players Asa ever played?

Mentioned: GM Valentin Arbakov, GM Roman Dzindzichashvili, GM Yasser Seirawan, Polgar sisters, Episode 185 with IM Stuart Rachels, IM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun, GM Nicolas Rossolimo 

19:30-After Fischer won the World Championship in 1972, did Asa ever see him again? 

22:45- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessmood.com. They have a huge library of opening, middlegame, and endgame instructional videos, as well as a free blog. 

23:45- Asa tells some more stories from playing against Fischer, as well as describing many of the classic NYC chess venues. 

29:00- Why did Asa decide to drop out of Columbia University to pursue chess? 

31:00- What was Asa’s involvement with the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer? 

Mentioned: GM Nona Gaprindishivili lawsuit against Netflix 

33:00- What did Asa do to improve at chess?

Mentioned: Mike Valvo, IM Greg Shahade, John Fernandez, GM Gata Kamsky, GM Julio Becerra, GM Michael Rohde, IM Jay Bonin 

39:00- Patreon Mailbag Question: What was Asa’s most memorable game against IM Jay Bonin? 

Mentioned: Active Pieces by IM Jay Bonin and Greg Keener 

43:00- Perpetual Chess is also brought to you in part by AImchess.com. Check out the site, and if you decide to subscribe use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%. 

43:30- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. Check out what's new from them here: New Chess Courses Online - For All Levels- Chessable.com Don’t forget to subscribe to the How to Chess podcast as well!

45:00- What were Asa’s highest stakes blitz matches? 

Mentioned: IM Cris Ramayrat, Episode 193 with Tom Murphy, GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Robert Hess, GM Alex Lenderman, GM Irina Krush 

51:00- Patreon Mailbag Question: When will Asa’s memoir be published and will it be available as an e-book? 

Mentioned: Dr. Frank Brady

53:00- Asa has met every world champion since Max Euwe. What are his most memorable interactions?

Mentioned: GM Miguel Najdorf, Edward Lasker 

57:00- Asa tells a few stories of fights and muggings at NYC gaming establishments

1:02:00- In addition to chess, Asa plays Scrabble, bridge, poker, and backgammon, and he dabbled in betting at horse racing as well. What is Asa’s 2nd best game after chess? 

1:04:00- Has Asa had any non-chess jobs?

Mentioned: Al Horowitz 

1:06:00- Has Asa played GM Maurice Ashley? Did he ever see GM Viktor Korchnoi in New York? 

Mentioned: GM Anatoly Karpov, GM Maxim Dlugy, IM Anatoly Lein 

1:09:00- Did Asa ever play GM Samuel Reshevsky?  

Mentioned: GM John Fedorowicz 

1:12:30- Asa's World Championship thoughts

1:14:30- What are Asa’s favorite chess books? 

Mentioned: Masters of the Chessboard by Richard Reti, The Psychology of the Chess Player by Reuben Fine 

1:18:00- Why did Asa stop betting on horse racing? 

1:22:00- Thanks to Asa for joining the show! You can reach him via his chess.com profile here:

https://www.chess.com/member/asahoffmann

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