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.

[Event "Bugojno"]
[Site "Bugojno"]
[Date "1984.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Timman, Jan H"]
[Black "Smyslov, Vassily"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "2610"]
[BlackElo "2600"]
[Annotator "Exeter,DrDave"]
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nf5 {Timman gives a wonderful note here,
ranging across Steinitz, Hubner, Karpov, and a Cambridge City postal game from 1875(!). Deep learning worn
very lightly.} 5...g6 6. Ne3 Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Bd3 Re8 9. O-O Ne5 10. Kh1 d6 11.
Be2 Nc6 12. f3 Nd4 13. Bc4 a5 14. Ng4 Be6 15. Bg5 Nxg4 16. Bxd8 Ne3 17. Qc1
Bxc4 18. Qxe3 Nxc2 19. Qd2 Nxa1 20. Bf6 Re6 21. Rxa1 Rxf6 22. b3 Be6 23. Na4
Ba3 24. Qc3 Rf4 25. g3 Bb4 26. Qd3 Rf6 27. a3 b5 28. axb4 axb4 29. Kg2 bxa4 30.
Qd4 Bxb3 31. Qxf6 a3 32. Qd4 c5 33. Qxd6 Rc8 34. Qd2 Be6 35. f4 h6 36. g4 Bxg4
37. f5 Re8 38. Qxh6 gxf5 39. h3 1-0

[Event "Linares"]
[Site "Linares"]
[Date "1983.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Timman, Jan H"]
[Black "Geller, Efim P"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D03"]
[WhiteElo "2605"]
[BlackElo "2575"]
[Annotator "Exeter,DrDave"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d5
3. Bg5 {The introduction to the Torre System. I liked to play it in my younger
years, and later I would dig it up again every now and then to avoid a
theoretical duel with an opening expert. For example, I beat Beliavsky with it
in a game that was crucial for my tournament victory in Wijk aan Zee, 1985.} e6
4. Nbd2 Be7 5. e3 O-O (5... c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Bd3 Nd7 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. O-O O-O 10.
Re1 Qf6 11. Bb5 Qd8 12. Rc1 Qb6 13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. Qc2 a5 15. Ng5 g6 16. dxc5
Qxc5 17. e4 Ba6 18. e5 Qe7 19. Ngf3 f6 20. c4 Rac8 21. Qc3 Qb4 22. exf6 Rxf6
23. Ne5 Qxc3 24. Rxc3 Nxe5 25. Rxe5 Rb8 26. b3 a4 27. f3 axb3 28. axb3 Kf7 29.
Re1 Bc8 30. cxd5 exd5 31. f4 Rb6 32. g3 Re6 33. Rec1 Ke7 34. Nf3 Bd7 35. Ne5 g5
36. Nxd7 Kxd7 37. fxg5 Re2 38. Rf3 Ra6 39. Rf7+ Ke6 40. Rcf1 d4 41. Rxh7 Raa2
42. g6 Rg2+ {1-0 (42) Timman,J (2650)-Beliavsky,A (2635) Wijk aan Zee 1985}) 6.
Bd3 b6 7. Ne5 Bb7 8. Bxf6 Bxf6 9. f4 Bxe5 10. fxe5 Qh4+ 11. g3 Qh6 12. Qe2 Nc6
13. O-O Nb4 14. Rf4 Nxd3 15. Qxd3 a5 16. Nf3 Ba6 17. Qc3 Be2 18. Qc6 Qh5 19.
Kg2 Rae8 20. Re1 Ba6 21. g4 Qg6 22. Kh1 Re7 23. g5 Qh5 24. Kg2 Rb8 25. Kf2 Qg6
26. Rf6 Qe4 27. Rf4 Qg6 28. Rc1 Rc8 29. Rf6 Qe4 30. g6 Rf8 31. Rf4 fxg6 32.
Rxe4 dxe4 33. Qxe4 c5 34. c4 1-0

[Event "74th Tata Steel GMB"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2012.01.19"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Timman, J.."]
[Black "Ernst, S.."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A11"]
[WhiteElo "2571"]
[BlackElo "2606"]
[Annotator "Exeter,DrDave"]

{ "There was a bright spot: my win against Sipke Ernst
was a model game, the dream of every true Réti player. The long diagonal of
the white king’s bishop was the basis for the victory."} 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5
3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. O-O Nbd7 6. Qc2 Nb6 7. Na3 Qd5 8. b3 $5 {Tukmakov}
cxb3 9. axb3 Be6 10. b4 $146 Qb3 11. Qxb3 Bxb3 12. b5 c5 13. d3 Nfd7 14. Nd2
Bd5 15. e4 Be6 16. f4 f6 17. e5 Bd5 18. e6 $1 Bxe6 19. Bxb7 Rb8 20. Bc6 g6 21.
Nac4 Nc8 22. Ne4 Kf7 23. Ne5+ $1 Nxe5 24. fxe5 Bf5 25. Nxc5 Bg7 26. d4 Rd8 27.
Rxf5 $1 gxf5 28. e6+ Kg6 29. Nd7 Nd6 30. Nxb8 Rxb8 31. Rxa7 Nxb5 32. Rxe7 Bh6
33. Be8+ 1-0

Middlegame

Too much to choose from of course, but some contrasting games: a brilliancy prize, a Petrosian-esque manoeuvring game,

[Event "Tallinn"]
[Site "Tallinn"]
[Date "1973.02.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rytov, Boris"]
[Black "Timman, Jan H"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E45"]
[WhiteElo "2200"]
[BlackElo "2480"]
[Annotator "Exeter,DrDave"]


{A brilliancy prize} 1.d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Nge2 Ba6 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Nxc3 d5 8. b3
O-O 9. Be2 Nc6 10. b4 Bxc4 11. Bxc4 dxc4 12. Qe2 b5 $1 {"While I was
contemplating this move, Tal came standing by my board, looking at me with a
piercing glance. It felt like a kind of encouragement to walk the combinatory
path. After I had played the move, he came by again, and smiled at me. I had
found the combination he had envisaged."} 13. Nxb5 Qd5 14. Nxc7 Qxg2 15. Qf1
Qf3! 16. Nxa8 Nxd4 17. exd4 Qc3+ 18. Ke2 Qxa1 19. Qg2 Qa2+ 20. Ke1 Qb1 21. Kd2
Ne4+ 22. Ke3 Qd3+ 23. Kf4 g5+ 24. Ke5 Rd8 0-1

A contrast, but with a deeply calculated break at move 28:

[Event "Banja Luka"]
[Site "Banja Luka"]
[Date "1974.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mihaljcisin, Mihajlo"]
[Black "Timman, Jan H"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B06"]
[Annotator "Exeter,DrDave"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. f4 c6 5. a4 d5 6. e5 h5 7. Nf3 Bg4 8.
Be2 e6 9. O-O Nh6 10. Be3 Bf8 11. h3 Nf5 12. Bf2 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 h4 14. Ne2 Nd7
15. Qd3 Be7 16. c4 dxc4 17. Qxc4 Nb6 18. Qc1 Rc8 19. Rd1 Kf8 20. Nc3 Kg7 21.
Ne4 Nd5 22. Nc5 b6 23. Nd3 a5 24. Qd2 Qd7 25. Rac1 Rc7 26. Rc4 Rhc8 27. Rdc1
Qd8 28. Kh2 c5 $1 29. dxc5 Nb4 30. Be4 Bxc5 31. Bxc5 bxc5 32. Qe2 Ng3 33. Qe3
Nxe4 34. Nxb4 cxb4 $2 35. Qxe4 $2 Rxc4 36. Rxc4 Rxc4 37. Qxc4 Qd2 38. b3 Qc3
39. Qb5 Qxb3 40. Qxa5 Qc4 0-1

And a sprightly attack with some very unobvious moves@

[Event "OHRA"]
[Site "Amsterdam"]
[Date "1987.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Timman, Jan H"]
[Black "Zapata, Alonso"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B54"]
[WhiteElo "2630"]
[BlackElo "2510"]
[Annotator "Exeter,DrDave"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3
d6 6. Be3 b5 7. g4 Bb7 8. Bg2 Nd7 9. Qe2 Rc8 10. O-O Qc7 11. a4 $1 b4 12. Na2
Ngf6 13. Nxb4 Qc4 14. Nd3 Bxe4 15. Ra3 $5 Bxg2 16. Rc3 Qxc3 17. bxc3 Bxf1 18.
Kxf1 d5 19. Nf4 Rc4 20. f3 $1 h6 21. Bf2 $1 Nc5 22. Nxd5 $1 Rxa4 23. Nxf6+ gxf6
24. Qd1 $1 Nb7 25. Qb1 Nd8 26. Qb3 Ra1+ 27. Kg2 Be7 28. c4 h5 29. c5 $1 hxg4
30. fxg4 Bxc5 31. Qc3 Bxd4 32. Bxd4 Ra4 33. h3 e5 $1 34. Bxe5 O-O $2 35. Bxf6
Ne6 36. Kg3 a5 37. Qe3 Kh7 38. Qb3 Rf4 39. Be5 Rb4 40. Qd3+ Kg8 41. Qe3 Kh7 42.
Qf3 f5 43. gxf5 Ng7 44. f6 Kg6 45. Kh2 Nf5 46. Qg2+ Kh7 1-0

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.

[Event "Hoogovens"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "1981.02.01"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Timman, Jan H"]
[Black "Andersson, Ulf"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E12"]
[WhiteElo "2620"]
[BlackElo "2610"]
[Annotator "Exeter,DrDave"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3
Bb7 5. Nc3 Ne4 6. Nxe4 Bxe4 7. e3 Be7 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 d5 10. O-O O-O 11. e4
dxe4 12. Qxe4 Nd7 13. Qc6 Nf6 14. Bf4 Qd7 15. Qxd7 Nxd7 16. Rad1 c6 17. Rfe1
Rfe8 18. d5 cxd5 19. cxd5 exd5 20. Rxd5 Nf8 21. Kf1 Bf6 22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. Nd4
Ng6 24. Bd2 Ne5 25. b3 h6 26. h3 Rc8 27. Ke2 Nc6 28. Nxc6 Rxc6 29. Rd7 a6 30.
Kd3 Kf8 31. a4 $1 Ke8 32. Rb7 Rd6+ 33. Ke2 Bd4 34. Be3 Re6 35. b4 $1 Bxe3 36.
fxe3 h5 37. Kd3 h4 38. Ra7 b5 39. a5 Rc6 40. Kd4 Kf8 41. Kd5 Rg6 42. e4 Ke8 43.
Kc5 Re6 44. Rb7 $1 Rxe4 45. Kb6 Rxb4 46. Kxa6 Rb2 47. Kb6 Rxg2 48. a6 Ra2 49.
a7 g5 50. Kc5 f5 51. Rb8+ Kf7 52. a8=Q Rxa8 53. Rxa8 g4 54. Kd4 gxh3 55. Rh8
1-0

A little tactic #23 and a principled repositioning #36 to win an ending against Tal:

[Event "Hoogovens"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "1982.01.??"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Timman, Jan H"]
[Black "Tal, Mihail"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C81"]
[WhiteElo "2655"]
[BlackElo "2605"]
[Annotator "Exeter,DrDave"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5
Be6 9. Qe2 Be7 10. Rd1 O-O 11. c4 bxc4 12. Bxc4 Bc5 13. Be3 Bxe3 14. Qxe3 Qb8
15. Bb3 Na5 16. Nbd2 Qa7 17. Nxe4!? Qxe3 18. fxe3 Nxb3 19. axb3 dxe4 20. Nd4 Rab8
21. Rdc1 Bxb3 22. Rxc7 Rb6 23. Ra7 Bd5 24. b3! 
{"I think Tal had missed this little move. White keeps his b-pawn."}
24...Rbb8 
(24...Bxb3?? 25.Rb1+-)
25. Ra3 Rfe8 26. R7xa6 Rxe5
27. Rd6 $1 f6 28. Ra7 Rb7 29. Rxb7 Bxb7 30. b4 Rd5 31. Rxd5 Bxd5 32. b5 Kf7 33.
Kf2 g6 34. Kg3 Ke7 35. Kf4 Kd6 36. Ne2 $1 Kc5 37. Nc3 Ba8 38. Nxe4+ Kxb5 39.
Nxf6 Bxg2 40. Nxh7 Bf1 41. Nf8 Kc6 42. Nxg6 Kd6 43. Kf5 Bh3+ 44. Kf6 Bg4 45.
Nf4 1-0

[Event "Amsterdam Euwe Memorial"]
[Site "Amsterdam"]
[Date "1994.05.19"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Timman, Jan H"]
[Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B52"]
[WhiteElo "2620"]
[BlackElo "2710"]
[Annotator "Exeter,DrDave"]

1. e4 c5 2.
Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Qe2 Nf6 5. Bxd7+ Qxd7 6. e5 {"The English grandmaster
Julian Hodgson later told me he had to laugh terribly when he saw this move
– especially because I even won the game with it, too. I have to confess
that the text move is entirely unpretentious. Still, it can’t hurt to play
like this now and then, when you’re not in top form."} dxe5 7. Nxe5 Qe6 8.
Na3 Nfd7 9. Nac4 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 f6 11. Nc4 Qxe2+ 12. Kxe2 Nc6 13. c3 e5 14. a4
Be7 15. d3 O-O-O 16. Be3 b6 17. f3 Rd7 18. g4 Rhd8 19. Rhd1 Bf8 20. h4 Ne7 21.
a5 Kb7 22. axb6 axb6 23. Ra3 Nd5 24. Rda1 Be7 25. h5 g6 26. Ra7+ Kc6 27. Rxd7
Rxd7 28. hxg6 hxg6 29. g5 b5 30. gxf6 Bxf6 31. Na5+ Kb6 32. Nb3 Nxe3 33. Kxe3
c4 34. Ra6+ Kxa6 35. Nc5+ Ka5 36. Nxd7 Bg5+ 37. Ke4 Bc1 38. dxc4 Bxb2 39. c5
Bxc3 40. c6 Ka6 41. Kd5 Ba5 42. Nc5+ Ka7 43. Kd6 Kb8 44. Kd7 g5 45. Nd3 b4 46.
Nxb4 e4 47. fxe4 g4 48. Na6+ Ka7 49. c7 Bxc7 50. Nxc7 g3 51. Nb5+ Kb6 52. Nd4 {
"I won ‘from nothing’, as they say. The concluding part fits together like
clockwork."} 1-0