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Timman 
Photo courtesy of www.dimitri.org.  
Jan Timman
Number of games in database: 3,264
Years covered: 1963 to 2008
Current FIDE rating: 2565
Highest rating achieved in database: 2680
Overall record: +1095 -673 =1399 (56.7%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      97 exhibition games, blitz games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (312) 
    B31 B40 B30 B90 B46
 Ruy Lopez (149) 
    C69 C92 C95 C67 C63
 Queen's Indian (97) 
    E15 E12 E19 E17 E16
 French Defense (87) 
    C11 C18 C02 C19 C16
 King's Indian (86) 
    E81 E87 E88 E83 E90
 Nimzo Indian (83) 
    E30 E31 E41 E20 E32
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (187) 
    B46 B81 B83 B30 B69
 Queen's Indian (154) 
    E15 E12 E17 E14 E13
 Nimzo Indian (128) 
    E32 E41 E45 E43 E21
 Ruy Lopez (107) 
    C82 C80 C95 C78 C72
 French Defense (103) 
    C18 C19 C16 C11 C02
 Grunfeld (101) 
    D85 D99 D87 D86 D97
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   T C Fox vs Timman, 1970 0-1
   L Day vs Timman, 1980 1/2-1/2
   Timman vs Kasparov, 1985 1-0
   Timman vs C Van Wijgerden, 1979 1-0
   Timman vs J Smeets, 2006 1-0
   V Kovacevic vs Timman, 1984 0-1
   F Braga vs Timman, 1982 1/2-1/2
   Timman vs Polugaevsky, 1973 1-0
   Timman vs Quinteros, 1973 1-0
   J L Arnason vs Timman, 1989 0-1

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: [what is this?]
   Karpov-Timman FIDE World Championship (1993)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Jan Timman: Chess The Adventurous Way by Resignation Trap
   hitman84's favorite games by hitman84
   i.abderrahim's favorite games by i.abderrahim
   Wijk aan Zee Hoogovens 1975 by suenteus po 147
   Wijk aan Zee Hoogovens 1974 by suenteus po 147
   WCC Index [ Candidates Montpellier 1985 ] by Benzol
   Bugojno 1978 by Benzol
   Tilburg Interpolis 1987 by suenteus po 147
   Tilburg Interpolis 1988 by suenteus po 147
   Tilburg Interpolis 1986 by suenteus po 147

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Jan Timman
Search Google® for Jan Timman


JAN TIMMAN
(born Dec-14-1951) Netherlands

[what is this?]
Jan Hendrik Timman was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on December 14, 1951. He was awarded the GM title in 1974 and gradually climbed up the ranks of the chess elite. His tournament successes include first place finishes at Mar Del Plata 1982, Bugojno 1984, and Tilburg 1987.

This 9-time Dutch Champion was a consistent contender for the world title throughout the 1980's and early 1990's, and in 1993 he contested a match for the FIDE World Championship with Anatoli Karpov, but fell short, losing 6-2 with 13 draws. He is also the younger brother of Ton Timman and a well respected chess author. His "The Art of Chess Analysis" can be found in the library of many chessplayers worldwide.


 page 1 of 131; games 1-25 of 3,264 
Game  ResultMoves Year Event/LocaleOpening
1. Timman vs Cafferty  ½-½17 1963 corrB04 Alekhine's Defense, Modern
2. Timman vs J Van Baarle  1-028 1964 Rotterdam ch-NED jrE88 King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox, 7.d5 c6
3. Timman vs A Van den Berg  ½-½39 1964 Rotterdam ch-NED jrD86 Grunfeld, Exchange
4. Timman vs J Willemsen  0-165 1964 The Hague jrB40 Sicilian
5. S Noorda vs Timman 1-09 1964 Rotterdam ch-NED jrC02 French, Advance
6. Timman vs J Toorman  1-041 1964 Rotterdam ch-NED jrE15 Queen's Indian
7. F Van der Vliet vs Timman  0-136 1964 The Hague ch-jrD27 Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical
8. J Marcus vs Timman  0-143 1964 RotterdamC49 Four Knights
9. Timman vs Simon  1-035 1964 Rotterdam ch-NED jrE83 King's Indian, Samisch
10. Meinders vs Timman  0-129 1964 The HagueA03 Bird's Opening
11. F Hoorweg vs Timman 0-125 1964 HaagD15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
12. L J Kerkhoff vs Timman  1-034 1964 Rotterdam ch-NED jrC02 French, Advance
13. Timman vs N Schouten  1-025 1964 Rotterdam ch-NED jr 0B08 Pirc, Classical
14. Wisse vs Timman  0-130 1965 The Hague ch-jrA91 Dutch Defense
15. Mooijaart vs Timman  0-153 1965 The Hague ch-jrB80 Sicilian, Scheveningen
16. Timman vs R Van Dijken  1-027 1965 The Hague ch-jrA51 Budapest Gambit
17. De Wind vs Timman 0-132 1965 The Hague ch-jrA65 Benoni, 6.e4
18. Timman vs P Dijkhuis  1-046 1965 Nederland ttA56 Benoni Defense
19. Timman vs M De Bolster  1-035 1965 The Hague ch-jrD15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
20. P Nieuwenhuis vs Timman  0-137 1965 Nederland ttA13 English
21. Timman vs J Willemsen  ½-½20 1965 The Hague ch-jrC50 Giuoco Piano
22. A Westermeier vs Timman  1-045 1966 Groningen Ech-jr finB80 Sicilian, Scheveningen
23. Gligoric vs Timman 0-151 1966 The Hague simulC63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense
24. Timman vs J E Vos  1-024 1966 Delft ch-NED jrE87 King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox
25. Timman vs J Moles  1-029 1966 Groningen Ech-jr preE20 Nimzo-Indian
 page 1 of 131; games 1-25 of 3,264 
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Timman wins | Timman loses  
 

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 6 OF 6 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Apr-17-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  percyblakeney: <but Timman is/was a strong contender, "Best of the West" for a certain period and a FIDE-Challenger (against Karpov in 1993)>

That is true, considering this it's unexpected that there are so few posts on his page. And here's a player with 2500 games in this database, once rated number 6 in the world but still only one page of kibitzing: Vlastimil Hort

Apr-17-06   Bobak Zahmat: Well, in the future we should therefore discuss the games of Timman more.
Apr-17-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  diagonal: Timman would merit it! In general, there is - for obvious reasons - a certain tendency to discuss the new game entries, the rising stars (Magnus Carlsen, born in 1990, already with about incredible 250 personal kibitzing pages) and the immortals (especially focussed on former World Champions) and maybe the best women - sometimes for reasons who shall be nameless. Also widely disputed by the chess community are - hopefully - forthcoming events (such as the announced Kramnik-Topalov World Championship Tournament: already with 16 pages within less than a week).

But several strong chess players, now rather end of career, are nearly forgotten by the kibitzers, even if they still play and/or take part in the analysis! As pointed out, Vlastimil Hort, so far with only one page of kibitzing (or for instance Lajos Portisch or Lev Polugaevsky, the Sicilian expert who died so early - both regular Candidates with until now only two personal kibitzing pages) and to some extend Timman are examples for that "phenomenon"; well, we all can made an effort!

Apr-17-06   Bobak Zahmat: Anyhow this guy deserves better, therfore I will analyse some games of him in the coming weeks and hope others will enjoy.
Apr-20-06   Maatalkko: Oh crap, I'm an old Timman fan so I bet all of my ChessBookie points on Timman to win Siggeman & Co. (he did last year, and he was a top 10 player once upon a time). I didn't realize that he was doing so bad these days.

Timman is a cool guy though, he definitely deserves to be better known. It would be nice to see him start trying harder and keep his place in the top 100.

May-03-06   MoonlitKnight: It's looking good for Timman in Siegeman so far. He's leading with 5,5/6 and a rating performance of about 2950.
May-03-06   EmperorAtahualpa: On the ChessGames.com Statistics Page it shows that Timman is now the player with the second most games in the database, behind only Korchnoi! That deserves a lot of respect.
May-03-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: Many years ago I read somewhere that a certain Timman move, which was something like R(Q)-Q2, was the most brilliant move ever played. It doesn't appear on Krabbe's list. The game was played in the early 70s. Anyone know what I am talking about? Or is this just purposeless gibbering?
May-03-06   TIMER: <Keypusher> Your comment reminded me of a candidate most brilliant move ever from Bronstein in Bronstein vs A Khasin, 1957 yet surprisingly nobody had yet kibitzed on it.
May-04-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <timer> that is indeed a remarkable move with a remarkable follow-up.
May-04-06   Stevens: Is that right that Timman never broke the 2700 barrier? Seems odd when he's such a well regarded and succesful player of a few years ago.
May-04-06   Maatalkko: Wow! Timman is doing great in Siggeman! I won't lose my wager after all! GO TIMMAN!!

No, he never did break the 2700 barrier. But you must remember it was much harder to do so back then, when he was at his peak. He was in the world's top 10 for a long time I think, so with today's rating standards he would be above 2700 easily, probably for a number of years.

In fact, I think that the only players above 2700 for most of Timman's career were Karpov and Kasparov. In later years Ivanchuck and Shirov also joined them if I remember correctly.

BTW Mihail Tal had one freak year in 1979 when he won two major tournaments that were FIDE rated. His rating went from 2610 to 2705, making him the third player ever to be over 2700 (after Fischer and Karpov). They only updated ratings once a year back then, so for all of 1980 he was over 2700. However, he bombed most of his tournaments that year, so he crashed from 2705 to 2550 at the end of the year, the largest drop in a single rating update that I know of.

May-04-06   MoonlitKnight: I've seen larger rating drops, but they were all rather suspect.
May-06-06   Mameluk: Congratulations to Timman for great victory in Malmo tournament. Chess skill never leaves such players, maybe we will see him next year in Wijk an Zee:)
May-07-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  diagonal: Great victory by Timman, congrats and respect!

Time does not stand still, it's a remarkable achievement of the 55-years old Jan Timman (even some of his opponents blundered in one or the other game): sole first with 7/9 and no loss - just compare eg. with the recent activities / results of other famous "1951-borns" in normal chess tournaments as Ulf Andersson (in crisis - but top in correspondence chess), Karpov (rather poorly at the Russian Club Cup - but very strong in rapid chess encounters), Ribli or Vaganian.

May-07-06   madlydeeply: Timman wrote a book called "the art of chess analysis" which was too complicated for me to figure out.
May-14-06   castofclowns: Base on FIDE's olympiad Team Composition, Timman will not play in Turin? Why? Its a pity that the best performer of the European Team Champion is not playing.
Nov-26-06   nescio: Timman currently plays in a weekend tournament in Wolvega http://www.heiteschaaktoernooi.nl/ with some old rivals (Hort, Hübner, Yusupov) and two other Dutchmen (Van Wely, Werle). So far Hort got the most attention with his original play, but yesterday evening Timman showed that he can still occasionally lash out:

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006/11/25"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Timman, Jan"]
[Black "Hubner, Robert"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Board "a.gdkvl61"]
[Input "DGT5133"]
[Owner "Wolvega Remco Heite Schaaktoernooi"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. Bg5 c5 8. Bc4 cxd4 9. O-O Be7 10. Qe2 O-O 11. Rad1 Qb6 12. Rxd4 Qxb2 13. Bd3 h6 14. Bxh6 gxh6 15. Qe5 Qb6 16. Rh4 Rd8 17. Rxh6 Kf8 18. Qg3 Ke8 19. Ne5 Qc7 20. Bb5+ Kf8 1-0

Coincidentally the game has some similarities with Tal vs Benko, 1962 Curacao 1962, and Timman has recently published a book about that tournament.

Dec-14-06   Maatalkko: Happy Birthday, Timman. Happy Birthday.
Dec-16-07   bystander: No congratulations for Timman his birthday in 2007?! After some years of absence, Timman will be playing chess again at Hoogovens (Corus). In 2008, there is a honary group, with Timman, Kortchnoi, Ljubojevic and Portisch. The first round of this group will start at January 18. http://www.coruschess.com/participa...
Dec-16-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Open Defence: belated Happy Birthday GM Timman!
Mar-16-08   takchess: Game Collection: On the attack Timman

My library recently bought "on the attack" by Timman. It is an exceptional book that does not read like a game analysed by Fritz. (like Kasparovs books which are beyond me)

It contains representative games by the modern masters of attacking chess (last 25 years) with a number of personal asides about the gm, the specifics of the tournament, past similar lines played.

There are 30+ complete games analysed 4-5 pages each and 30+ game fragments analysed.

Pretty deep stuff and a book worthy of purchase.

Mar-16-08   MichAdams: Kasparov's supporters will reply:

<Overall record: Garry Kasparov beat Jan Timman 25 to 4, with 28 draws.>

Mar-17-08   GBKnight: I don't think it is a question of what Timman's personal record against Kasparov might have been. Presumably takchess finds Timman's writing and analysis more accessible. Another excellent book by Timman is 'The Art of Chess Analysis' (Cadogan 1997), which is a collection of games annotated in some depth by Timman; well worth a look.
Mar-17-08   MichAdams: Kasparov's supporters will reply:

<Overall record: Garry Kasparov beat Jan Timman 25 to 4, with 28 draws.>

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