1/2006 - This past April, Timman went up against rising young stars:
Sasikiran Krishnan and Hikaru Nakamura in a 10 player Sigeman and Co
Tournament in Copenhagen. Timman shared first place with Sasikiran. Timman
won 4 and drew 5 games to score 6.5 out of 9 points.
This past June, Jan Timman took on up-and-coming, Cuban Larslo
Bruzon. Despite being 30 years older and rated 60 points below his opponent,
Timman showed that he can still hold his own against the next generation.
Timman won the rapid portion of his match against the 23-year old, rising
Cuban star. However, Bruzon rebounded to win the standard time control
match. Timman took the overall match with 3 wins, 1 loss, and 4 draws.
A week Later in Leon, again giving up 35 years, and 70
rating points, Timman took on rising 19-year old, Ukrainian star Andrei
Volokitin. Timman came up short in this 4-game rapid match. He won 1, lost
2, and drew one.
In July, Timman captained the Dutch team to first place in
the European Team Championship in Gothenburg. The Dutch team defeated
Ukraine and routed the Russian team. Timman won three and drew 4 games to
help the Dutch team take first. Timman also had a fine win over another
rising, Russian star Alexander Motylev.
Many of the younger players should read Timman's endgame articles
in New In Chess Magazine. In 2005, over-the-board, Timman gave many endgame lessons to the
younger generation. Timman showed, that despite his graying mane, this old
lion can still hold his own against the next generation.
Achieving his GM title in 1974, Jan Timman chess career has spanned 5 decades. His highest rating
was 2680. He is a 9-time Dutch National
Champion. Jan is probably the greatest Dutch player since
Max Euwe. Jan was
the 3rd rated player in the world in 1982.
In his long career, Jan had a number of first place finishes: Wijk aan Zee 1981, Las
Palmas 1981, Mar Del Plata 1982, Bugonjo 1984, Wijk aan Zee 1985,
Amsterdam 1987, Tilburg 1987, Linares 1988, Amsterdam 1989, and Rotterdam 1989.
Jan became a world champion candidate in 1985. He came
close to the world championship a few times. In 1990, Jan lost a final
candidate match to Karpov. In 1992, Jan lost the final candidate match
to Nigel Short. When Short and Kasparov split from FIDE, Jan Timman play
Anatoly Karpov for the FIDE version of the title. Karpov won that match by a
score of 6-2.
Over the years, Jan Timman did notch some impressive candidate match
victories over Salov, Portisch, Speelman, Hubner, Kortchnoi, and Yusupov.
Currently, Jan is rated 83rd in the world with a 2630 rating. Jan
has authored many chess books, most notable are "Fischer World Champion",
and
"the art of chess analysis". His most current books are : "Curacao 1962",
and " Power Chess with Pieces." Jan also
is editor-in-chief of New In Chess Magazine.
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