He founded the British Chess Club, was an honorary member of the City of London Chess Club, founder and honorary secretary of the British Chess Association.
As a chess journalist he worked for The Field, Standard and Westminster Gazette. He is most famous for founding the Chess Monthly magazine and running it together with Zukertort. You can read issues of the magazine (as well as many others) at the outstanding site Chess Archaeology.
While living in Paris, he won matches against, among others, Ignatz von Kolisch, Samuel Rosenthal and Jules Arnous de Riviere.
At his death he was Europe's supreme chess commentator who was known for his verbal brickbats and and at least one admirer claimed he was the greatest chess editor the world had ever seen!
His opponent in the following delightful minature was James I. Minchin (1825-1903) who was born in Madras, India and died in Parkstone, England. He was one of the main promoters of the London 1883 international tournament and edited the tournament book. After Minchin’s slip on move 11 he got slaughtered.
James I. Minchin–Leopold Hoffer0–1C33LondonLondon ENG1876Stockfish 16
C33: King's Gambit Accepted 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.c4 This is second in
popularity to 3.Nf3. The text can lead to several extremely sharp lines.
Compared to 3. Nf3 there is very little theory on this move. h4+ 4.f1
White has lost the possibility of castling and his K looks precariously placed,
but it's actually safe on f1. White can now gain several tempi because of the
position of black's Q. White's plan is usually to develop quickly and start an
attack on the K-side using the half-open f-file and the B on c4. d5 This
move, attacking the B, is only one of black's defensive possibilities. Black
gives back the P for a rapid development. 4...g5 is usual and
statistically brings black th emost success. 5.c3 g7 6.d4 Black usually
continues with 6...Ne7, but 6...d6 isslightly better. Either way the chances
are about even. 5.xd5 Best. It avoids the B being blocked by the P on d5. 5.exd5 This favors black after d6 6.f3 and the retreat to either h5 or
h6 leave black well off. 5...e7 6.c3 6.b3 preserves the B, but black
is solid after g5 7.f3 h5 8.d4 bc6 6...g5 6...xd5 Gains the two Bs,
but black's development is disrupted after 7.xd5 d6 8.f3 h6 9.e5 7.d4 7.f3 is more accurate, Then after h5 8.h4 chances are even. 7...g7 7...g4 leaves black a bit better. 8.f3 xf3 9.xf3 bc6 8.f3+- 8.g3 is not to be recommended even though it's whan the great Capablanca played
in Capablanca,J-Beckman,A, Philadelphia 1924 fxg3 9.g2 xd5 10.hxg3 xc3 11.bxc3 xe4+ 12.f3 g4 13.e1 xf3+ 14.xf3 xe1 and black won in a few
more moves. 8...h5 9.e2 9.h4 is correct. h6 10.f2 10.g1 g6 11.e5 xe5 12.dxe5 g8 with equal chances. Paulsen,L-Anderssen,A Baden-Baden
1870 10.e5 did not work out well for white in Mortimer,J-Steinitz,W
London 1883 0-0 11.g1 g4 12.e1 d8 Black has what should amount to a
decisive advantae, but in the game he let it slip and only managed to draw. 10...g4 11.e1 bc6 12.xf4 xd4+ 13.f1 Black is better. Swiderski,
R-Marshall,F Vienna 1903 9...xd5 10.exd5 Black now has a strong
initiative and white finds himself on the defensive. g4 11.e1 A fatal
slip. Correct was 11.Qd3 so as to recapture with the Q if black plays ...Bxf3 11.d3 xf3 12.xf3 xf3+ 13.gxf3 Black has no more than a slight
advantage. 11...0-0 A necessary precaution. 11...xf3 12.xf4+ e2+ 13.xe2+ xe2+ 14.xe2 White is solid P up. 12.f2 d7 This N
will strengthen the attack. 13.c4 ae8 14.d2 f6 The threat
of Ne4 cannot be met in any satisfactory way. 15.c3 15.a3 This a pass
just to illustrate the danger if the N remains on e5 e4 16.e1 xf3 17.gxf3 xf3+ 18.g1 xd2 19.xd2 xe2 15...e4 16.xe4 xe4 17.c3 fe8
White's position is hopeless. 18.d1 e3 19.g1 xf3 20.gxf3 xf3 21.g2
White is quite lost and Stockfish is announcing mate in 11 moves. xc3
White resigned. A nearly flawless game by Hoffer. 21...xc3 22.bxc3 xd1+ 23.f1 e1 24.f2 d2+ 25.f3 f5 26.f2 d1+ 27.g2 g4+ 28.g3 e2+ 29.f1 fxg3 30.hxg3 f3+ 31.g1 g2# 0–1
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