Alejandro Hoffman vs Hikaru Nakamura (1999) "Dustin' Hoffman"

Alejandro Hoffman vs Hikaru Nakamura
"Dustin' Hoffman" (game of the day Oct-04-09)
U.S. Open 99 1999 · Indian Game: West Indian Defense (E61) · 0-1

Given 29 times; par: 41 [what's this?]

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sac: 25...Nf3+	PGN: download \| view	Help: general \| java-troubleshooting

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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 2 · Later Kibitzing >
Jun-29-05		LuckyBlunder: <ferniebola> is right, 28 f3 forces the same ending. 28 .. f3, 29. Rg1 Qh4#. I think Hoffman did see 28 .. f3! long before Nakamura and tried to force a draw by threefold repetition but Nakamura was pretty sure he had a won game so he finally saw it ... it would be very interesting to have the elapsed time in each one of the final moves :)

Jun-29-05		mymt: as <WannaBe> pointed out 28. ...f3? 29.Rg1 pins the Black Q

Oct-04-05		PaulLovric: 11 years old....reminds me of someone else at that age

Oct-04-05		aw1988: Suttles?

Oct-04-05		PaulLovric: no john

Oct-04-05		aw1988: John who? Nunn?

Oct-04-05		notsodeepthought: 32 ... b5! was a nice touch, preventing the white queen from entering the seventh rank with check and pushing the black king back to g8. After that, any threat of a pin with Rg1 was gone.

Mar-14-06		Dodd: I really enjoyed that game! Played it through with my husband. Yes, he could have forced mate earlier, but he never dropped a clanger as far as I can tell. I like the gutsiness he plays with, shattering his own kings wall so early on to attack his opponent. Seems to violate the "safety before all" philosophy that so many people follow - but makes for a very exciting game. I wish I played like that in my thirties, let alone eleven. :-(

Aug-02-07		astaub: It is apparently true tht Black could have forced mate by playing ...f3 on either move 27 or move 29. However, the variations are rather tricky. The Chessmaster 9000 program found this idea to be sound. I had it playing at about a 2750 level. Here is the analysis starting with 29...f3: Now the threat is 30...Qg4+ and 31...Qg2 mate. However, White can create room for his king on the first rank by playing 30 Rc1. If Black followed the plan indicated earlier in this paragraph, White would play 31 Kf1 and 32 Ke1 and would then be able to retreat his king bishop to f1 if need be. The way around this defensive possibility for Black is to play 30...Rf4. Now the threat is 31...Rg4+ followed by 32...Qh1 mate. Interestingly,White can not play 31 Kf1 because of 31...Qh1 mate. If now 31 Nf4 Bf4 and there is no stopping the mate threatened by 32...Qh2+ and 33...Qh1 mate. If on the other hand 31 Bd6 , then 31...Rg4+ 31 Bg3 Rg3+ 32 fg Be3+ and 33...Qg3.

Oct-04-09		LaFreak III: 28...f3 is bad

Oct-04-09		LaFreak III: 29...f3 better

Oct-04-09		RandomVisitor: 25.Be2 might be good for white.

Oct-04-09		Cercatore: 35.Rg1 was a complete disaster.

Oct-04-09		Eisenheim: what a way to tie up the position! it was helpless before 35 rg1, after all what is better at that point?

Oct-04-09		RandomVisitor: 3 minutes per move: Alejandro Hoffman - Hikaru Nakamura [E61] U.S. Open 99 Reno USA (9), 21.08.1999 [Rybka 3 ] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 0-0 5.Bf4 d6 6.h3 c5 7.d5 a6 8.a4 last book move 8...Nh5 0.16/16 9.Bd2= -0.03/17 [Rybka 3 : 9.Bg5 f5 10.g3 h6 11.Bd2 e5 12.Bg2 e4 13.Nh2 Qf6 14.Qc1 Kh7 15.Be3= 0.16/16 ] 9...f5 0.26/17 [Rybka 3 : 9...Re8 10.e3 e5 11.e4 Nd7 12.Qc2 Ndf6 13.Bd3 Nf4 14.0-0 Qe7 15.Rfe1 N6h5 16.Be3= -0.03/17 ] 10.e3= 0.00/17 [Rybka 3 : 10.g3 e5 11.e4 Qe7 12.Bg2 f4 13.g4 Nf6 14.g5 Nh5 15.0-0 Nd7 16.a5 Rd8 17.Qc2 Rb8 18.Rfd1 0.26/17 ] 10...e5= 0.19/16 [Rybka 3 : 10...e6 11.Qb3 Qe7 12.dxe6 Bxe6 13.Be2 f4 14.e4 Nc6 15.0-0 Na5 16.Qa2= 0.00/17 ] 11.dxe6= -0.20/18 [Rybka 3 : 11.e4 Qe7 12.Be2 fxe4 13.Nxe4 Bf5 14.Bg5 Qd7 15.Bd3 a5 16.0-0 Na6 17.Nh4 Bxe4 18.Bxe4 Nf4 19.Nf3 Bf6= 0.19/16 ] 11...Bxe6= -0.03/17 [Rybka 3 : 11...Nf6 12.Nd5 Nc6 13.Bc3 Bxe6 14.Nf4 Bf7 15.Ng5 Ne4 16.Bxg7 Qa5+ 17.Bc3 Nxc3 18.Qd2 Ne4 19.Qxa5 Nxa5 20.Nxf7 Rxf7 21.Rd1 Re8 22.Bd3= -0.20/18 ] 12.Be2= -0.25/19 [Rybka 3 : 12.Nd5 Nd7 13.Be2 Bxd5 14.cxd5 f4 15.0-0= -0.03/17 ] 12...Nc6= 0.14/17 [Rybka 3 : 12...Nf6 13.Qb3 Nc6 14.Ng5 Na5 15.Qa2 Bd7 16.0-0 Re8 17.Rad1 Nc6 18.Nd5= -0.25/19 ] 13.0-0= -0.25/18 [Rybka 3 : 13.Nd5 Nf6 14.Nf4 Qe8 15.Bc3 Ne4 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Nd2 Qe7 18.0-0 Bf7 19.Nxe4 fxe4 20.Qd2 g5 21.Nh5+ Bxh5= 0.14/17 ] 13...f4 0.28/15 [Rybka 3 : 13...Nf6 14.Ng5 Bd7 15.Qb3 Na5 16.Qa2 Re8 17.Rad1 Nc6 18.Nd5 Nxd5 19.cxd5 Nb4 20.Bxb4 Qxg5 21.Bd2 b5 22.a5 b4= -0.25/18 ] 14.Nd5= 0.17/16 [Rybka 3 : 14.Re1 Rb8 15.Ra3 fxe3 16.Bxe3 Nf4 17.Bxf4 Rxf4 18.Qd2 Qf8 19.g3 Rxc4 20.Bxc4 Bxc4 21.Ne4 d5 22.Neg5 d4 23.Qc2 Bd5 24.Ne6 0.28/15 ] 14...Bh6 0.75/17 [Rybka 3 : 14...Bxd5 15.cxd5 Nb4 16.e4 Re8 17.Bxb4 cxb4 18.Qd2 Rxe4 19.Bd3 Re7 20.Qxb4 a5 21.Qd2 Qb6 22.Rfe1 Rc7 23.Bb5 Rac8 24.Rac1 Bf6= 0.17/16 ] 15.Ra3 0.31/17 [Rybka 3 : 15.e4 Bg7 16.Bc3 Bxc3 17.bxc3 Na5 18.Qd3 Kh8 19.Rab1 Rc8 20.Qc2 Re8 21.h4 h6 22.e5 0.75/17 ] 15...Bxd5 0.31/18 16.cxd5 0.11/17 Ne7 1.22/18 [Rybka 3 : 16...Nb4 17.e4 Nf6 18.Rb3 a5 19.e5 dxe5 20.Nxe5 Re8 21.Nc4 Nfxd5 22.Bf3 Ra7 23.Re1 Bg7 24.Bc3 Rxe1+ 25.Qxe1 b6 26.Qe6 0.11/17 ] 17.e4 1.21/16 Nf6 1.22/17 18.Qb1 0.83/15 [Rybka 3 : 18.Qc2 Nd7 19.h4 Nc8 20.Re1 Qe7 21.Rb3 Ra7 22.a5 Re8 23.Bc4 Qf7 24.Bf1 Ne7 25.Bc3 1.22/17 ] 18...g5 1.66/16 [Rybka 3 : 18...Nc8 19.Re1 Nd7 20.Rb3 Rb8 21.Qc1 g5 22.Bc3 Qe7 23.Qc2 Bg7 24.Ba5 0.83/15 ] 19.a5 1.20/15 Ng6 1.60/17 20.b4 1.20/15 cxb4 1.64/17 [Rybka 3 : 20...Nd7 21.bxc5 Nxc5 22.Bb4 b5 23.axb6 Qxb6 24.Bxc5 Qxc5 25.Rxa6 Rxa6 26.Bxa6 Qa7 27.Be2 Rb8 28.Qc2 Nh4 29.Nxh4 gxh4 30.e5 dxe5 31.d6 Qd7 32.Qc5 Bg7 33.Bg4 1.20/15 ] 21.Bxb4 1.45/16 Qe7 2.15/15 [Rybka 3 : 21...b5 22.Nd4 Bg7 23.Rc1 Qe7 24.Bd3 Nh4 25.Rc6 Rfd8 26.Ne6 Rd7 1.45/16 ] 22.Bd3 1.52/16 g4 1.67/18 23.Nd4 1.67/18 Nh4 1.67/17 24.hxg4 1.67/15 Nxg4 1.91/15 25.Ne6?? -#11/7 [Rybka 3 : 25.Be2 f3 26.Nxf3 Nxf3+ 1.91/15 ] 25...Nf3+ -#11/8 26.gxf3 -#10/8 Qh4 -#10/7 27.fxg4 -#9/7 Qxg4+ -#9/7 28.Kh2 -#8/6 Qh4+ -#8/7 29.Kg1 -#7/7 Qg4+?= 0.00/59 [Rybka 3 : 29...f3 30.Rc1 -#7/7 ] 30.Kh2 -#9/11 Qh4+?= 0.00/31 [Rybka 3 : 30...Qh5+ 31.Kg1 -#9/11 ] 31.Kg1 -#7/10 Kf7? -3.35/15 [Rybka 3 : 31...f3 32.Rd1 -#7/10 ] 32.Bc3 -4.15/15 b5 -3.35/14 33.Bg7? -0.80/10 [Rybka 3 : 33.Rc1 f3 34.Qb2 Bf4 35.Nxf4 -3.35/14 ] 33...Qg4+ -#4/6 34.Kh2 -#3/3 f3 -#3/3 35.Rg1 -#1/3 Qh4# 0.00/0 0-1

Oct-04-09		SuperPatzer77: <Cercatore: 35.Rg1 was a complete disaster> White has no defense against the inevitable checkmate below: 35. Nf4 Bxf4+, 36. Kh1 Qg2# 0-1 35. Ng5+ Bxg5, 36. Rg1 Qh4# 0-1 <Cercatore> So that's why White has no choice: 35. Rg1 (a desperate move) Qh4# 0-1 At age of 12, Hikaru Nakamura played extremely well against Alejandro Hoffman. SuperPatzer77

Oct-04-09		Dimitrije Mandic: This is truly the best pun ever.

Oct-04-09		randomsac: Awesome pun. Things were pretty bloody with black's queen on a wide open kingside.

Oct-04-09		RandomVisitor: After 24...Nxg4: 1: Alejandro Hoffman - Hikaru Nakamura, U.S. Open 99 1999 click for larger view Analysis by Rybka 3 : <19-ply> <1. (1.96): 25.Be2> f3 26.Nxf3 Nxf3+ 27.Rxf3 Rxf3 28.Bxf3 Ne5 29.Be2 Re8 30.Qb3 Qc7 31.Qg3+ Bg7 32.Bh5 Rf8 33.Qe3 Ng6 34.Rc1 Qd7 35.g3 Bb2 2. � (1.13): 25.e5 Nxe5 26.Ne6 Rf7 27.Re1 Nxd3 28.Qxd3 f3 29.g3 Ng6 30.Rc3 Bf8 31.Re3 Qf6 32.Rxf3 Qxf3 33.Qxf3 Rxf3 34.Rxf3 Be7 35.Rb3 Rb8 36.f4 Kf7 37.Ba3

Oct-04-09		tivrfoa: <RandomVisitor> What white should play after 29. ... Qg4+? I think that after 30. Kh1 the best for black is a draw, because if black keeps with his plan he would probably lose, eg: 30. ... Qh4+ 31. Kg1 Kf7 32. Rd1 Rg8+ 33. Kf1 f3 34. Ke1 f3 34. Ke1 Qh1+ 35. Bf1 Rg1 36. Qd3

Oct-04-09		RandomVisitor: <tivrfoa>29...Qg4+ a) 30.Kh2 Qh4+ 31.Kg1 f3 is mate in 7. b) 30.Kh1 Qh3+ 31.Kg1 f3 32.Nf4 Bxf4 then Qg2 mate.

Oct-04-09		tivrfoa: Thanks <RandomVisitor>. I'm confused with this: 29.Kg1 -#7/7 Qg4+?= 0.00/59 Qg4+? -> bad move 0.00 -> draw right? :/

Oct-04-09		TheaN: <tivrfoa> That draw sign comes from the fact that a computer considers any repetition (from the first in a position and on) to be a move for a draw. It is kind of obvious, as the computer cannot take the clock or thinking moments into consideration. So, Rybka considers 27....Qg4� 28.Kh2 Qh4� 29.Kg1 Qg4� as 0.00, as Qg4� and the exact same position are repeated.

Oct-05-09		WhiteRook48: Nakamura rolled Hoffman

Oct-05-09		tivrfoa: Thanks <TheaN> :)

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