Player Profile: Jan Timman

Full Name: Jan Hendrik Timman

Peak FIDE Rating: 2680 (January 1990)

Active Since: 1967 (World Junior Championship) to present 

Federation: Netherlands

Player Description:

If chess were a symphony, Jan Timman would be the virtuoso who plays the wild solo, unpredictable, fiercely aggressive, yet cultured and deeply strategic. Known as “The Best of the West” in the Soviet-dominated 1980s, he combined psychological flair with attacking precision, publishing books that reflected the depth of his art.

Chess pretty much ran in Timman’s destiny as his mother was grandmaster Euwe’s student. He followed Euwe’s path and became the third grandmaster of the Netherlands in the year 1974. This Dutch grandmaster started to stand out in the global chess world in the late 70s.  His rise as one of the greatest in the game was an open challenge to the mid-1980s Russian dominance. His duels with one of Russia’s legendary Anatoly Karpov were glorious to say the least. 

Timman’s opening repertoires were wide and scattered; he liked to go with the flow his opponent set in the opening, which is very unusual in the highest level. His unpredictable approach in the opening made him a tricky opponent over the board.

Apart from playing, Timman has also written several books on chess, which have been critically acclaimed like “The Longest Game” and “Curacao 1962” to name a few. 

Career Scorecard:

World Championship Cycle Appearances: Multiple—from 1972 zonals to 1993 FIDE title match against Karpov.

National Championships: Nine-time Dutch Champion (1974–1996) 

Olympiad Medals: Gold for best board‑one performance in the  1976 Olympiad 

Tournaments Won:

• Hastings 1973/74 (shared)

• Sombor 1974, Netanya 1975, Reykjavik 1976, Amsterdam IBM 1978, Bled/Portorož 1979 

• Wijk aan Zee 1981 & 1985, Linares 1988, Euwe Memorial 1989, Rotterdam World Cup 1989

• Immopar Rapid (Paris, 1991)

Memorable Game:

1. Jan Timman vs Garry Kasparov (1985) – Timman, playing white, opened the game with Rui Lopez. The game matured into a close variation of the spanish opening. The middle game was a meticulous war between the two greats to curate a positional advantage. In the 32nd move, Timman played knight to f6, sacrificing the knight to lure black’s king out in the open. After a plethora of exchanges, black’s king lost its iron clad defense and soon Kasparov lost his queen to a pin and resigned.