Round 6 19th January 2002

THE TIMMAN WHO HAS A HEART

THERE’S an old adage that says that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. This is particularly true of Dutch stalwart Jan “The Man” Timman, the veteran of the tournament, who recently celebrated his big Hawaii 5-0. Yet, despite his advancing years, Jan looks fitter than ever – and he’s still willing to give the younger players a run for their money as he puts his heart and soul into his games at the board.

Seen as the natural heir to Dr Max Euwe, Jan is the most prolific (and victorious) Dutch player of all-time. Sadly, though, he didn't have the in-built discipline required to achieve the ultimate goal: the world crown. A professional since 1970 and a grandmaster since 1974, he won his first senior international at Hastings 1973/74 and has been a two-time winner at Wijk. He has also amassed nine national titles and has taken part in more than fifteen Chess Olympiads in a career spanning more than 30 years.

He easily fits into the Marlon Brando category of “I could have been a contender!” by possibly being best remembered as the player who almost became world champion – a title he shares with players such as Paul Keres, David Bronstein, Bent Larsen and Victor Korchnoi.

His exploits at the board made him a national hero. With his youthful looks, flowing locks and bon viveur lifestyle, he won the hearts (and many young females come to that) of the chess-mad Netherlanders. Many saw in the young Jan a player who could conceivably bring back the world title once again to the Netherlands, but alas it was not to be. During his peak in the early 1980s, Timman, who was once second on the Elo list and third twice behind Karpov and Kasparov, earned the nickname ‘The Best of the West’. Many thought this was his ‘moment’ with Karpov on the throne and some little upstart called Kasparov waiting in the wings.

In an effort to better prepare him for a possible title challenge, he subsequently became, thanks to generous sponsorship by the KRO national broadcast company, one of the most experienced match players in the West with memorable head to head battles with the likes of Tal, Korchnoi, Spassky, Kasparov, Ivanchuk, Short, Yusupov, Seirawan, Ljubojevic and Portisch. Unfortunately, the free-spirited (and equally free-drinking) Timman was also regarded as something of a “chocker” who has a tendency to lose his nerve or his interest when things start to go pear-shaped in a tournament. Nevertheless, big hearted Jan did have his moments.

He participated many times in the cycle for the FIDE World Championship (his victory in the 1985 Taxco Interzonal being his own particular highlight of his career), and twice reached the final match for the World Championship title losing to Karpov in 1990 and Short in 1993. When Short and Kasparov broke away from FIDE in 1993, Timman finally got his chance to play for the world crown when he played Karpov in a match, beset from the start with problems.

To a great Dutch-hype and fanfare, the match opened in the provincial town of Zwolle, switched to Arnhem and then to Amsterdam, and was almost aborted when the main sponsor withdrew. Although a new sponsor stepped in at the last-minute to salvage the match, it had to be re-allocated to far-flung Jakarta in Indonesia, which Timman lost.

Jan is also respected as a writer who writes from the heart on the game. He is the author of seven major chess works, of which several have been translated into foreign languages. His "The Art of Chess Analyses," is considered a timeless classic (and one book that should be included in everyone’s chess library), of which he once commented: "It is not always the games with the best chess that leave behind the strongest memories (...) This selection of 80 games gives a picture of the fighting chess I have always championed."

An outspoken character throughout his whole chess career, Jan recently declared that he would never play in another FIDE event due to the compulsory drug testing now in the game. This and many more controversial issues from Jan will come out next month with the publication of his new book from the mainstream Dutch publishers De Bezige Bij, entitled Een sprong in de Noordzee (A jump in the North Sea).

As highlighted earlier, big-hearted Jan has a tendency to lose his nerve when things start to go wrong for him in a tournament. Up until he played Evgeny Bareev, he was playing some spectacular chess. However, the way and manner of this loss has now cast a doubt in the press room as to how he'll perform in the second half of the tournament.

Timman,J (2605) - Bareev,E (2707) [A29]

1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 g3 Both these players in the past have had this position (Tilburg 1991 and Ubeda 1997), in each case Bareev has opted for an English Four Knights with 4 ..d5. However, as Bareev explained after the game during his press conference, he decided on this occasion to play something "different", and envisaged a set-up of Bc5, d6, 0–0 and h6. 4 ..Bc5 5 Bg2 0–0?! It was only after Bareev played this that he suddenly realised he had inverted the moves - he has to play d6 first. 6 Nxe5! The damage is done, Bareev explained that he now had to "Eat it". 6 ..Bxf2+ 7 Kxf2 Nxe5 8 b3 Re8 9 Rf1 d5!?

[The only other game played with this bad line was Conquest-Loginov, where white had a big advantage (though drew in 80 moves) after: 9 ..c6 10 Kg1 h6 11 d4 Ng6 12 e4 d6 13 Bb2 Bg4 14 Qd2 Qc7 15 Rxf6 gxf6 16 Qxh6 Qe7 17 Rf1 ½–½ Conquest,S-Loginov,V/Budapest 1996/CBM 56. Bareev decided to throw caution to the wind by opening lines. ] 10 d4 [If 10 cxd5!? Bareev intended what he described as "a primitive" set-up by putting his rooks on the open files with 10 ..c6 11 dxc6 Qb6+ (As Bareev pointed out to commentator Rob Hartoch, the speculative 11 ..Nd3+ backfires completely after 12 Kg1! (12 exd3?? Qd4+ 13 Kf3 Bg4#) 12 ..Qb6+ 13 Kh1 Nxc1 14 Na4! Qb4 15 Rxc1 bxc6 16 Nc5 with a big white advantage.) 12 e3 Nxc6 followed by Bg4 and Rad8.] 10 ..Neg4+ 11 Kg1 dxc4 12 bxc4 Ne3 13 Bxe3 Rxe3 14 Qd2 Re8 15 Rad1?! [Bareev: "Of course, white may have the centre, but it's difficult to move pawns": 15 e4 c5! 16 d5 Ng4! with a comfortable game.; However another idea for white is 15 Nd5!? Nxd5 (15 ..Re6 16 Qf4!) 16 Bxd5 Be6 17 Bxb7 Bxc4 (17 ..Rb8 18 Bc6 Re7 19 Qd3 Qd6 20 Be4 with a nice advantage.) 18 Qc3 Bd5! (18 ..Bxe2 19 Bxa8 Bxf1 (19 ..Qxa8 20 Rf2 Qd5 21 Qxc7 Bc4 22 Rc1 winning.) 20 Bc6!) 19 Bxa8 Bxa8 20 Rf2 Qd5 21 Qf3 Qe6 and white holds the upper hand.; Timman after the game suggested himself 15 Rab1!? c6 16 d5! as better for white. Certainly any of the above would have been better than what Timman actually played. Now, Bareev comes back into the game with some energetic play.] 15 ..c6 16 Qf4 Bg4 17 Rf2 Bh5 18 d5 cxd5 19 Nxd5?! [19 cxd5 was slightly better according to Bareev.] 19 ..Ng4 20 Rff1 [20 Ne3 Nxe3! 21 Rxd8 Raxd8 22 h3 was more or less equal.] 20 ..Ne5 21 Qc1? [The defining moment, according to Bareev - 21 Bf3 is about equal. "The problem for Jan is not the rooks but the bad bishop on g2 - it had to be exchanged".] 21 ..Bxe2 22 Nf6+ gxf6 23 Rxd8 Raxd8 24 Bxb7 Kg7!

Bareev just stops any ideas of a potential Qh6 or Qxf6 at a later stage. Besides, the rook is going nowhere due to the knight coming to d3. 25 Bd5 [25 Re1 Nd3! now there's no Qh6.] 25 ..Bxf1 26 Qxf1 Rb8! Apart from the knight ideally situated on the wonderful outpost of e5, the black rooks dominate the open files. 27 Qf2 ["He should have tried to confuse me with something like 27 c5 ", said Bareev.] 27 ..Nd3 28 Qxa7 Re1+ 29 Kg2 Rb2+

30 Kh3 [The king's caught in a mating net: 30 Kf3 Ne5+ 31 Kf4 Rxh2 32 g4 (32 a4 h5 33 g4 h4 34 g5 Rhe2 35 gxf6+ Kh6! 36 Bf3 Rf1 37 Qa8 Ng6+ 38 Kf5 h3 39 Kg4 Rg1+ 40 Kxh3 Nf4+ 41 Kh4 Rh2#) 32 ..Rh3 33 a4 Nd3+ 34 Kf5 Re5#] 30 ..Ne5 31 g4 Ree2 32 Kg3 Rxa2 33 Qc5 Rad2 [Again the king gets caught: 33 ..Rad2 34 Bb7 Rd3+ 35 Kf4 Ng6+ 36 Kf5 Rde3 with the dual threat of Re5+ or Rf2+.] 0–1

Despite a superb effort from Bareev who now takes the sole lead, the Spectators Prize for game of the round went to a particularly blood-thirsty effort from Peter Leko.

Leko,P (2713) - Grischuk,A (2671) [C42]

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 Just about all the top players now have added the solid Petroff into their repertoire. It's fast become at the elite level what IM Andrew Martin would describe as "The Banker". 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 d4 d5 6 Bd3 Nc6 7 0–0 Be7 8 c4 Nb4 9 Be2 Be6 10 Nc3 0–0 11 Ne5 f6 12 Nf3 Kh8 13 a3 Nxc3 14 bxc3 Nc6 15 Nd2 f5 16 Re1 Bf6 17 a4N

[Leko breathes some new life into a known position - and one that he's also faced against Kramnik. 17 Bf3 Bg8 18 cxd5 Bxd5 19 Nb3 b6 20 Bf4 Ne7 (20 ..Re8 21 Be5 Qd7 22 Bxf6 gxf6 23 Nc1 Re6 24 Rxe6 Qxe6 25 Nd3 Re8 26 h3 ½–½ Galkin,A-Motylev,A/Dubai UAE 2001/TWIC 337. ) 21 Be5 c6 22 Bxf6 Rxf6 23 Nc1 Ng6 24 Nd3 h6 25 Ne5 Nh4 26 Bxd5 Qxd5 27 f3 c5 28 dxc5 ½–½ Leko,P-Kramnik,V/Dortmund GER 2000/TWIC 297. ] 17 ..Bg8 18 c5 Re8 19 Nf3 h6 20 Rb1! Rb8 21 Bd3 Rxe1+ 22 Qxe1 Qd7 23 Bf4 Re8? Grischuk doesn't see the danger ahead. 24 Qd2 g5

25 Rxb7!! A fantastic combination from Leko that rocks Grischuk to his foundations. 25 ..Rc8 [The immediate acceptance leads to total capitulation: 25 ..gxf4 26 Qxf4 Qe6 27 Qxh6+ Bh7 28 Rxc7 Re7 29 Rxc6!! Qxc6 30 Ne5 Qe8 (30 ..Rxe5 31 dxe5 Kg8 32 exf6 Qc7 33 Qg5+ Kf8 34 Bxf5 Bxf5 35 Qxf5 with an easy endgame win.) 31 Qxf6+ Kg8 32 c4 wins easily.] 26 h4! This soon forces the issue. 26 ..gxf4 27 Qxf4 Bg7 28 Qxf5 Qd8 [Exchanging queens brought no respite - white simply has too many pawns for the piece: 28 ..Qxf5 29 Bxf5 Rf8 30 Bd7! Nb8 31 Bh3 a5 32 Rxc7 It's going to be impossible for black to unravel from this mess - not only are the a- and d-pawn weak, black also has a problem of who to activate the pieces - especially the knight on b8.] 29 Ng5! Why can't Leko play like this all the time? 29 ..hxg5 [29 ..Qf8 30 Nf7+! Qxf7 (30 ..Bxf7?? 31 Qh7#) 31 Qxc8 Qf6 32 Qxc7 and again everything falls off the board.] 30 hxg5 Qf8 31 Qh3+ Bh6 32 Bf5 Re8 33 Rxc7

Unbelievably, black's two pieces ahead yet can't do anything - a worthy winner of the Spectators Prize for round 6. 33 ..Re1+ 34 Kh2 Ne7 35 g4 Be6 36 Qxh6+ Qxh6+ 37 gxh6 Nxf5 38 gxf5 Bxf5 39 Rf7 Bg6 40 Rxa7 Rc1 41 Kg3! The final finesse. The king now guides the c-pawn home will the rook guides home the a-pawn. 41 ..Rxc3+ 42 Kf4 Bh5 43 Ke5 Rf3 44 c6 Bg4 45 a5 Rxf2 46 a6 Rc2 47 Rc7 [47 Rc7 Ra2 48 a7 Bh3 49 Rd7! is the quickest path to queening the pawn.] 1–0

You can contact John Henderson at: jbhthescots@cableinet.co.uk

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of TWIC, Chess & Bridge Ltd or the London Chess Center.