I have just read, with enormous pleasure, Jan Timman’s volume of his best games, Timman’s Triumphs. The range of openings is very broad, the tactics pleasing and sometimes brilliant, the strategy revealing, the endgame play subtle; the annotations do justice to a Grandmaster’s play but remain accessible; the stories between the games are engaging and warm.
Opening
Timman’s repertoire is very broad and includes every style.
Middlegame
Too much to choose from of course, but some contrasting games: a brilliancy prize, a Petrosian-esque manoeuvring game,
A contrast, but with a deeply calculated break at move 28:
And a sprightly attack with some very unobvious moves@
Endgame
I’ve just been looking at some Nunn endgames which are full of tension and precision; Timman’s choices show deftness more than forcefulness, and that magical ability to create something out of nothing. First, he out-Anderssons Andersson.
A little tactic #23 and a principled repositioning #36 to win an ending against Tal: