EP.196 - GM Jan Timman

This week on Perpetual Chess, it's a privilege to be joined by a chess legend. GM Jan Timman! GM Timman is the 9 time champion of the Netherlands and spent decades as one of the top players in the world.  He has had numerous tournament triumphs, and played GM Anatoly Karpov for the FIDE World Championship in 1993. For all of his striking chess successes, GM Timman may be equally skilled as a writer. He is a founding editor of New in Chess Magazine, and penned the outstanding and award-winning book,  Timman’s Titans, among many other works. In 2020, GM Timman has released another great book, Timman’s Triumphs: My 100 Best Games. GM Timman has a treasure trove of amazing chess stories, and we are lucky that he touched on many of them in this interview. A few of the topics discussed include: what modern chess engines taught him about his classic games, what it was like to drink with Mikhail Tal, and go to a disco with Bobby Fischer, and what his most cherished and painful memories are from a lifetime’s worth of chess battles. GM Timman is someone I have always hoped to interview, so it was an honor and pleasure to hear his stories and reflections. Please read on for more details, timestamps and relevant hyperlinks.  0:00- We begin by discussing GM Timman’s latest great book, Timman’s Triumphs. Why does he think that, under today’s circumstances,he would not become a chess professional as an up-and-coming player?  Mentioned: GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Chessbase, NICBase, Fritz, GM Garry Kasparov, GM Erwin L’Ami   08:00- After reviewing his games with today’s state of the art engines, how did the quality of play in GM Timman’s games hold up?  GM Wolfgang Uhlmann, GM Judit Polgar     10:45- GM Timman tells a story of travelling to a tournament in Stockholm when young, and staying at a hotel where he couldn’t afford lodging unless he won prize money. How did it turn out?  Mentioned: Rilton Cup,  IM Hans Bohm    14:30- GM Timman answers the first of many questions from the Patreon mailbag relating to his dynam