Dutch GM Jan Timman, who emerged as the West’s best player challenging the Soviet chess dynasty in the decades after American Bobby Fischer abandoned the game, died Wednesday at the age of 74 after a short illness.
The encomiums have been pouring in from across the chess world for the talented and affable Timman, a nine-time Dutch national champion who at his peak in the early to mid-1980s was rated No. 2 in the world. He won a string of elite tournaments over a five-decade career, qualified for multiple candidates’ cycles and lost a FIDE world title match to Russian great Anatoly Karpov in 1993.
Timman also lived a rich chess life away from the board — as a noted endgame study composer, annotator, journalist and the author of many fine books and anthologies, notably his 1980 classic, “The Art of Chess Analysis.”
Over his long career, Timman had memorable battles with Garry Kasparov, Viktor Kortchnoi and all the giants of his era, including dozens of clashes with Karpov. The Dutchman’s first win over his great Russian rival, at a tournament in Yugoslavia in 1978, was among his most memorable, capped by several tactical strikes against a famously hard-to-beat opponent.
Timman, a superb and insightful annotator, cites a Reshevsky-Alekhine game from 1934 in noting how White manages to seize the initiative in this Queen’s Gambit Exchange line after 13. Ng5 b5?! (better, Timman writes, was 13…Bd7, as Karpov’s hoped-for queenside blitz never gets going) 14. Be5 h6 15. Nxe6 Nxe6 16. g4 Nd7 17. h4!. The impudent pawn advance foils Black’s plan to slow down the White attack after 17. Bg3?! Bh4!, and the shock sent the champ into a nearly one-hour think over how to handle White’s coming kingside assault.
On 17…b4 (Bxh4?! 18. f4 Nxe5 19. dxe5 Qe7 20. Bf5 g5 21. Ne2, and both Timman and the modern chess engines say Black’s defense is reeling despite his extra pawn) 18. Ne2 Bxh4 19. f4 c5 20. Ba6!, White cheekily stops to win the exchange before returning to the attack.
The h-file cracked open following White’s 17th move quickly pays big dividends — 22. Ng3 f6 (the White bishop is “trapped,” but Timman has bigger targets in mind) 23. Rxh6!: “It’s an intense pleasure to make such a move” against a player as strong as Karpov, Timman recalled in his delightful 2020 game collection “Timman’s Triumphs.” Indeed, taking the material on offer leads to disaster for Black in lines such as 23…gxh6? 24. Qg6+ Kf8 25. Nf5! fxe5 [Nxe5 26. fxe5 Bd8 27. Qxh6+ Kf7 28. Nd6+ Ke7 29. Qh7+ Ng7 30. Qxg7+ Ke6 31. Qf7 mate] 26. Nxh6 c4 27. Qg8 mate, or 23…fxe5 24. Qh7+ Kf8 25. Nf5 Nf6 26. Rxf6+! Bxf6 27. Qh8+ Kf7 28. Nd6+ Ke7 [Kg6 29. Qh5 mate] 29. Nxc8+ and wins.
The White bishop on e5 can’t be saved, but with 26. fxe5 Qc6 27. Rdh1, the open file all but guarantees a winning attack. Timman admits his 28. Nd6?! ( 28. Rh7! Ng6 28. Nd6!, shutting out the queen while attacking the rook on e8 and the knight on g6, would have wrapped things up on the spot) Ndf8 29. Nxe8 Qxe8 allows Black to struggle on, but White transposes to a won ending with one more neat tactic: 32. e6! Qxe6 33. Qxd5, forcing the queens off the board and allowing White’s two rooks to take over the play.
Timman retains a clamp on the position and snuffs out Black’s last hopes with 42. Rxg6! Kxg6 44. e4 Nb4+ 45. Kb3 Bf8 46. Rb7, and Karpov resigned as the White a-pawn will run down the board unhindered after 46…Nd3 47. a4 Kg5 48. a5.
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The top seeds did indeed finish on top, but there were still some real surprises earlier this month at the third annual President’s Day Open at the Washington Dulles Airport Marriott, a nine-round Swiss event organized by the Atlantic Chess Association.
Just two months after American No. 1 GM Hikaru Nakamura sensationally dropped in to a Northern Virginia tournament to fulfill his quest to qualify for the upcoming world championship cycle, the Dulles event this month was enhanced by the participation of three-time U.S. national champion GM Nick de Firmian, who appears to be returning to competitive chess after a long hiatus from the board.
The California-based de Firmian, now 68, did manage to finish in a three-way tie for second in the event at 6-3, a half-point behind winner GM Tal Baron of Israel, the event’s highest-rated player. But it was a rocky reentry, as de Firmian suffered two upset losses along the way, to Virginia masters Justin Paul and Panav Swaminathan.
Paul’s Round 4 win from the White side of a Najdorf Sicilian took advantage of some loose defensive play by his higher-rated opponent after 18. Bxe5 Qb7 19. f5 a5? (the broken-up kingside pawns will prove a major headache for Black; the computer says the defense has a much better chance after 19…exf5 20. Rxf5 Ne8 21. Rh5 Rd8) 20. fxe6 fxe6 21. a4!? (clearing the c4-square for the bishop, but 21. Bd3 was also strong) bxa4 22. Bc4 Rae8!? (Nh5! 23. Qg6 Bg5 24. Qxe6+ Kh8 28. Bxd4 Rxf1+ 26. Rxf1 Bxd5 was tougher) 23. Qg6, when Black has to try 23…Rd8! 24. Bd3 Be8 25. Qg3 Nh5 and hope to hold.
Instead, the floodgates open after 23…Bd8? 24. Bd3 Rf7 25. Rf4 Kf8 (hoping to flee the danger zone, but Black’s king never gets the chance) 26. Raf1 Qxb2 (see diagram), and now White gets down to business with 27. Qh7! Qa3 (the White queen can’t be touched: 27…Nxh7? [White is also winning on 27…Bxg2+ 28. Kxg2 Qb7+ 29. Be4 Nxh7 30. Bxb7 Rxf4 31. Bxf4 Kg8 32. Nxa4] 28. Rxf7+ Kg8 29. Rxg7+ Kh8 30. Rxh7+ Kg8 31. Rh8 mate, while White now threatens 28. Bd6+ Ree7 29. Qh8+ Ng8 30. Rxf7+ Ke8 31. Qxg8+) 28. Nb5 (renewing the threat of 29. Bd6+) Bxb5 29. Bxb5 Ke7 30. Rxf6! (also winning was 30. Rd1 Nxh7 31. Rd7+ Kf8 32. Rfxd7+), and the walls close in on the Black king.
Paul collects the point after 30…gxf6 31. Bxf6+, and Black resigns as it will be mate in short order after 31…Kd6 (Kf8 32. Qh8 mate) 32. Rd1+ Kc5 33. Qxf7 Kxb5 34. Qxe8+ Kb4 35. Bd4 Bg5 32. Qxe6.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Timman-Karpov, Bugojno, Yugoslavia, February 1978
1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 Nf6 6. e3 O-O 7. Qc2 c6 8. Bd3 Re8 9. Nf3 Nbd7 10. O-O-O Nf8 11. h3 Be6 12. Kb1 Rc8 13. Ng5 b5 14. Be5 h6 15. Nxe6 Nxe6 16. g4 Nd7 17. h4 b4 18. Ne2 Bxh4 19. f4 c5 20. Ba6 Be7 21. Bxc8 Qxc8 22. Ng3 f6 23. Rxh6 Nef8 24. Rh3 c4 25. Nf5 fxe5 26. fxe5 Qc6 27. Rdh1 Ng6 28. Nd6 Ndf8 29. Nxe8 Qxe8 30. Rh5 Qc6 31. Qf5 a5 32. e6 Qxe6 33. Qxd5 a4 34. Rc1 c3 35. bxc3 bxc3 36. Rxc3 Qxd5 37. Rxd5 Ne6 38. Kc2 Kf7 39. Ra5 Ng5 40. Rc6 Ne4 41. Rxa4 Nf6 42. Ra7 Nd5 43. Rxg6 Kxg6 44. e4 Nb4+ 45. Kb3 Bf8 46. Rb7 Black resigns.
Paul-de Firmian, President’s Day Open, Dulles, Virginia, February 2026
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 h6 8. Bh4 Qb6 9. a3 Nc6 10. Bf2 Qc7 11. Be2 Be7 12. O-O Bd7 13. Kh1 b5 14. Qd3 Nxd4 15. Bxd4 Bc6 16. Qg3 O-O 17. e5 dxe5 18. Bxe5 Qb7 19. f5 a5 20. fxe6 fxe6 21. a4 bxa4 22. Bc4 Rae8 23. Qg6 Bd8 24. Bd3 Rf7 25. Rf4 Kf8 26. Raf1 Qxb2 27. Qh7 Qa3 28. Nb5 Bxb5 29. Bxb5 Ke7 30. Rxf6 gxf6 31. Bxf6+ Black resigns.
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