Paul Morphy is credited with the aphorism, "The ability to play chess is the sign of a gentleman, the ability to play chess well is the sign of a wasted life."

If anyone were curious to know what Paul Morphy had in mind when he said these words, Asa Hoffmann's recently released memoir provides an entertaining elucidation of his idea. Asa, who I believe has a Morphy Number of 4, authored his memoir together with his wife Virginia Hoffmann, and it reads like a creative, non-fiction patchwork quilt of recollections, anecdotes and stories from a New York City chess hustler. The Last Gamesman: My Sixty Years of Hustling Games in the Clubs, Parks, and Streets of New York describes with clarity and detail the outline of what most readers who are chess players will agree was a life well lived.




The introduction, penned by Marshall Chess Club President Emeritus Dr. Frank Brady, sets the reader up for the entertaining journey they are about to embark upon: 

But perhaps the most fascinating aspect of his memoir is his recollection as he lived this life of chess in the Big Apple. He weaves remembrances of players as would a novelist. Here we see him playing some of the great players of his day, from Reshevsky to Fischer, from Evans to Kamsky. As a youngster, he and a number of the up-and-coming chess players would walk the streets at night, looking for a café or a pub so that they could play all night long. And he did, often until dawn. By honing his technique in playing such gifted players, Hoffmann became one of the country's top speed players. 

He describes with clarity and flare the atmosphere and inner workings of the Manhattan and Marshall, the two leading chess clubs in the United States. When he entered young manhood, he was elected a member of both Boards of those clubs, and his observations and comments as an insider will undoubtedly become an important part of chess history. 

Anyone who knows Asa will relish the book as a gap-filler for anecdotes he may have once started to tell you but didn't have time to finish, and those who don't know him will be enthralled by the ups and downs of his life together with the sketches of the characters along the way. For me personally, I was surprised to see several figures who I recall bumping into on my own journey through New York Chess, such as Richard Gilmartin, a denizen of the Village Chess Shop who made an impression on me as a young player. He passed away about ten years ago, but seeing him described (very accurately) in The Last Gamesman was moving for me, as if Asa had conjured up a memory of a friend from my own past and presented him to me on the page.  Asa does this time and again throughout, connecting lofty figures in the chess world with the rest of us through the localities in which all of our paths have crossed: The Village Chess Shop, the Bar Point Club, the Flea House, the Manhattan Chess Club and yes, the Marshall. He also gives credit to the hardworking organizers and managers such as Dr. Frank Brady, Bruce Pandolfini, Bill Goichberg and Steve Immit who made the tournaments and clubs hum and buzz with life 24/7.  

What I love most about this book though are the photographs - 30 pages of them with several photographs per page. There are photos of nearly every character from the New York City chess scene from their youth.  There is Bruce Pandolfini as a young man with long hair and a wide brim hat. He resembles the front man of a rock and roll band more so than a budding chess master. There is Dr. Frank Brady as a young man, full of gusto but already professorial in his stature and smiling the same way he does today. And of course many photos of Asa surrounded by the players of the era of his youth. Half the fun of going through this section is seeing if you can recognize the players before reading the caption.

Beyond chess, there are chapters on Backgammon, Poker, Bridge, Horse Racing and Scrabble. Even checkers, the game that Paul Morphy famously said was for "tramps," gets a chapter of its own. Perhaps the only thing that is missing is an annotated collection of chess games, though Asa assured me that this is forthcoming and for those who can't wait, there is always his earlier classic, Chess Gladiator. 

After having read The Last Gamesman, I cannot recommend it highly enough. While it is available to purchase on amazon, I assume that Asa would prefer you buy it from him personally the next time you bump into him so that he can sign it and inscribe it with something witty and personal, as he did in my copy: "Greg, it's never too late to make master."    

— Greg Keener, Editor of the Spectator