GM Jan Timman in Wijk an Zee, in 1978 and 2014 respectively. Photos courtesy of New in Chess Magazine
This week on Perpetual Chess, it's a privilege to be joined by a chess legend. GM Jan Timman! GM Timman is the 9 time champion of the Netherlands and spent decades as one of the top players in the world. He has had numerous tournament triumphs, and played GM Anatoly Karpov for the FIDE World Championship in 1993. For all of his striking chess successes, GM Timman may be equally skilled as a writer. He is a founding editor of New in Chess Magazine, and penned the outstanding and award-winning book, Timman’s Titans, among many other works. In 2020, GM Timman has released another great book, Timman’s Triumphs: My 100 Best Games. GM Timman has a treasure trove of amazing chess stories, and we are lucky that he touched on many of them in this interview. A few of the topics discussed include: what modern chess engines taught him about his classic games, what it was like to drink with Mikhail Tal, and go to a disco with Bobby Fischer, and what his most cherished and painful memories are from a lifetime’s worth of chess battles. GM Timman is someone I have always hoped to interview, so it was an honor and pleasure to hear his stories and reflections. Please read on for more details, timestamps and relevant hyperlinks.
Click here to download the episode
0:00- We begin by discussing GM Timman’s latest great book, Timman’s Triumphs. Why does he think that, under today’s circumstances,he would not become a chess professional as an up-and-coming player?
Mentioned: GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Chessbase, NICBase, Fritz, GM Garry Kasparov, GM Erwin L’Ami
08:00- After reviewing his games with today’s state of the art engines, how did the quality of play in GM Timman’s games hold up?
GM Wolfgang Uhlmann, GM Judit Polgar
10:45- GM Timman tells a story of travelling to a tournament in Stockholm when young, and staying at a hotel where he couldn’t afford lodging unless he won prize money. How did it turn out?
Mentioned: Rilton Cup, IM Hans Bohm
14:30- GM Timman answers the first of many questions from the Patreon mailbag relating to his dynamic play as Black. Does GM Timman agree with IM Mark Dvoretsky that this style may have cost him some points?
Mentioned: GM Max Euwe, GM Hein Donner
19:00- What was GM Timman’s approach to preparing for games?
Timman-Ribli 1978, GM Bobby Fischer, GM Judit Polgar
23:00- Bobby Fischer was a chess hero of GM Timman. What was it like to meet and spend time with him?
Mentioned: Bessel Kok
26:30-GM Timman tells another great story from Timman’s Titans, of discovering, as he shopped at a second hand shop in Lisbon, a chess set that once belonged to World Champion Alexander Alekhine.
Here is the set that belonged to GM Alexander Alekhine that GM Jan Timman happened across in Lisbon. Photo courtesy of GM Jan Timman.
29:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. Whether you are interested in openings, endgames, or chess history, Chessable has plenty of books and courses to help you learn and retain the information you learn using its MoveTrainer technology.
https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/
30:00- GM Timman answers a listener question comparing the feeling of playing Kasparov over the board to that of playing GM Anatoly Karpov.
Yasser Chessable interview here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoXeFM3tmZ8
33:30- GM Timman discusses his relationship with GM Viktor Korchnoi and offers his theory of how Korchnoi stayed so strong into his golden years.
Biel 2001, GM Alexander Grischuk, GM Peter Svidler, GM Lajos Portisch, GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic
38:30- What has changed in Jan’s chess game over the years?
Mentioned: The Ragozin Defense
41:00- We discuss modern chess a bit. Who is Jan’s favorite player? What does he think about the soon to be resumed 2020 FIDE Candidates tournament?
GM Ding Liren, GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, GM Ian Nepomniatchi, German Bundesliga
45:00- Jan answers another question from the Patreon mailbag relating to a memorable result in the Immopar rapid tournament in 1991.
Timman-Karpov 1991, Immopar 1991
47:30- What are Jan’s most pleasant and most memorable chess memories?
Mentioned: GM Arthur Yusopov
50:00- What was it like to be a celebrity in his native Netherlands in the 1990’s? Why does GM Timman think Magnus Carlsen prefers to defend his World Championship title outside of Norway?
Mentioned: Dirk Jan Ten Geuzendam of New in Chess Magazine, Former FIDE President Florencio Campomanes, GM Nigel Short, GM Boris Spassky, GM Bobby Fischer
52:00- How does GM Timman spend his chess-focused time these days? What are his interests outside of chess?
Mentioned: New in Chess Magazine, Luis Borges, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
54:30- What are GM Timman’s favorite cities and tournament venues that he has attended?
Mentioned: Paris, London, Madrid, Prague, Reykjavik Open
57:30- What was it like to spend time with legendary World Champion GM Mikhail Tal? If he were to be stranded on a desert island with one GM, who would it be?
Mentioned: Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer
1:00:00- GM Timman answers another listener question: Does he think that much of his success in chess can be attributed to the creative environment that surrounded him in the Netherlands?
Mentioned: De Kring, Hein Donner, GM Evgenii Sosonko
1:02:00- How much is Jan keeping up with chess literature? What are his favorite chess books?
Mentioned: My 60 Memorable Games, Paul Keres: The Road to the Top, Rapport-Sprenger 2020
1:06:00- GM Jan Timman answers one last Patreon mailbag question: How does GM Timman keep his motivation and focus to play lower rated players in club games?
Mentioned: GM Max Euwe
1:08:30- Thanks so much to GM Timman for joining the show! His books are widely available including from New in Chess, as well as Forward Chess.
https://www.newinchess.com/en_US/catalogsearch/result/index/q/Jan%20Timman/?authors=66
https://forwardchess.com/product/timman's-triumphs:-my100-best-games?sscid=91k3_fazxa