Short vs Timman, Tilburg 1991

Annotated Classic Game | Hot Off The Chess, www.hotoffthechess.com

For this week’s annotated game, we look at Short vs Timman 1991. The game was played during the Interpolis Tournament, held in Tilburg, Holland.

The game is an Alekhine’s Defence and sees Timman fianchetto his King’s bishop. This is never a decision that can be taken lightly, as this can leave the squares around the King vulnerable later on, especially if the piece is exchanged. This is actually what happened in this game.

Also a factor, is the decision by Black to bring his Queen out very early and to neglect the development of his light-squared bishop. Both pieces suffer due to this decision; and, in turn, so does Black’s whole position.

With good, solid positional play, Nigel Short rapidly takes control of the game. A firm grip on the Kingside, coupled with ownership of the d-file, sees Jan Timman completely frozen out.

However, Black had one trump in the game, which was bishop and Queen lined up towards the White King. With his knight and g-pawn limited in movement, the question remained as to how White would open up the Black King in order to deliver the final blow.

In answer to this, Short’s own King travels up the board with a calm swagger, in order to support the Queen and win the day. Black is left helpless.

There is no doubt that this game sees a rare and truly beautiful finish. However, it cannot be ignored that, like most beautiful finishes in chess, it was brought about by the sound and insightful positional play that led up to it.

[Event "Interpolis 15th"]  [Site "Tilburg NED"]  [Date "1991.10.21"]  [Round "4"]  [White "Nigel Short"]  [Black "Jan Timman"]  [Result "1-0"]  [ECO "B04"]  [EventDate "????.??.??"]{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.e4 Nf6 { Alekhine's Defence. This is not seen very often in high profile tournaments and games such as this one will certainly do it no favours. } 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 Bg7 7.Qe2 Nc6 8.O-O O-O 9.h3 a5 { A different try by Timman. 9...Na5 was more common, here. } 10.a4 { The best response, here -- a3 is also valid to a point, but Short's move stops the black pawn in its tracks. c2-c3 is also quite attractive-looking, but is a bit too slow, and White doesn't really want to be pulling his bishop off of the long diagonal. } 10...dxe5 11.dxe5 { The only valid response, here. } 11...Nd4 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 { I am not sure that I like this early Queen activity and as it works out, it does not work very well for the piece. } 13.Re1 e6 { This is a very logical move by Jan Timman, but not without its obvious drawbacks. First, his light-squared bishop is shut in somewhat, but he is probably thinking of either playing ...Nd5 and ...b6 to enable ...Bb7 or ...Bd7 and ...Bc6. Both of these development ideas take time, however. The second consequence of this move, is in a way more serious and that is the potential weakening of the dark squares around the Black King. } 14.Nd2 Nd5 15.Nf3 Qc5 16.Qe4 { There are not many players more aggressive than Nigel Short. There weren't when this game was played, anyway. Here, his eyes are firmly set upon the Black King with possibilities of Qh4, Bh6, Ng5, depending upon how Black proceeds. } 16...Qb4 { The opening isn't working for Timman and exchanging Queens would suit him. However, Short can decline this very effectively. } 17.Bc4 { This move looks like it shouldn't work, especially with the obvious ...Nb6. However, Short has the proceedings in perspective. } ( 17.Bxd5 exd5 18.Qxd5 Be6 { is already good for White, but Black has more freedom, which is probably worth the pawn. } ) 17...Nb6 18.b3 { This may seem strange, but Nigel is prepared to accept a weak Queenside due to his control on the Kingside. It is all down to relevance at the end of the day and as will be seen, the Queenside is not going to feature in the outcome of this game. } 18...Nxc4 { This is the other consideration, here, Black has managed to get rid of the light-squared bishop, but he is exchanging off his most active minor piece. } 19.bxc4 { And here we see, White's Queenside might be a little busted, but it does not impact his position as a whole. By contrast, if we look at piece quality now, White is much superior and has more potential. Black's bishop pair are mere spectators at this time. } 19...Re8 { An important loss of time for Black. With the threat of Ba3, skewering Queen and rook, ...Bd7 must wait. } 20.Rd1 { Very good play by Short, the Bc8 is a problem and this subtle move makes it rather longterm. } 20...Qc5 { Timman's Queen is really his only active piece, but it is quite misplaced. Here, he is trying to work it to c6 in order to support d7. However, this is costing him a lot of time and not making much difference to the overall situation. h7-h6 may have been more prudent, but he has missed that chance now. } 21.Qh4 { Not only eyeing h6, (Bh6 is coming), but also the f6-square. Ra3 was another idea to keep Black under the kosh, the rook on its way to d3. } 21...b6 22.Be3 { A very useful in-between-move to the Bh6 intention. Short is in effect taking the Queen out of play by putting it on the light squares. } 22...Qc6 { There were not many better alternatives than this. With ...Qe7 ruled out (Qxe7 Rxe7, Rd8+ Bf8, Bh6!), it was either back to b4 or f8 if Timman did not like c6. However, one point of this move is that after ...Bb7, White will have to be mindful of the threat towards g2. } ( 22...Qf8 23.Ng5 h5 { (if ...h6, then Ne4) } 24.Qf4 Bb7 25.Rab1 { with the threat of c4-c5. White's busted Queenside even starts to work in his favour, here. } ) ( 22...Qb4 23.Ng5 h5 { (if ...h6, then Ne4.) } 24.Qf4 Qe7 25.c5 Bb7 { with Rab1 or cxb6 good for White, here. } ) 23.Bh6 { Textbook. A positional theme, when considering the fianchetto, is that exchanging the bishop can be very weakening to the squares of its colour. } 23...Bh8 { This move is not great, but nothing is in all honesty. Black is already in some positional difficulty here. } ( 23...Bb7 24.Bxg7 Kxg7 { and Black is under a lot of pressure upon either Qf6+ or Rd4. } ) ( 23...Bxh6 { even with the follow-up of ...Bb7 and the threat to g2, this would be virtual resignation. } 24.Qxh6 Bb7 25.Rd5 { !! facilitating Ng5 -- very much winning. } ) 24.Rd8 { ! Strategically, Short has won the battle here. It remains only to covert his advantage. } 24...Bb7 { For the first time in the game, Black gives White something to think about -- namely the threat to g2. However, this is too little too late. } ( 24...Bd7 { looks interesting but fails to ... } 25.Nd4 { ! and Black has nothing better than to give the exchange for absolutely no improvement in stance. } 25...Rexd8 26.Nxc6 Bxc6 { with White very much better. } ) 25.Rad1 Bg7 { The point here is that Black can not liquidate the rooks, which leads to mate. But White also had the potential to slide quite nicely into e7. From there, R1d7 would be a very serious prospect. So, Black counters that by eyeing the Bh6. } 26.R8d7 { ! This was the only way to play for a win. White keeps Black tight. } 26...Rf8 { It is essential to cover f7. Otherwise the threat of Bxg7 followed by Qf6 is killing. } 27.Bxg7 Kxg7 28.R1d4 { This is a multi-purpose move. White intends Qf6+ after which the rook will be able to go to h4. This is very serious. But this move also stops Black from playing such things as ...Qe4. But even more importantly, after this move, Timman is completely immobile in the position and Short is able to fully realise his dominance on the Kingside dark squares. } 28...Rae8 29.Qf6+ Kg8 { to ...Kh6, Rh4 mate of course. } 30.h4 { ! To the point. The pawn is on its way to h5 and h6. } 30...h5 { The only move, h6 would change nothing, White just pushes on to h5. When looking at the position, here, though White is in complete control, the question is how to finish the game. And the Nf3 being limited by Black's threat along the h1-a8 diagonal is a complication. So, where is the knockout blow? Nigel Short has it well in hand. } 31.Kh2 { I wonder whether many truly understood the purpose of this move at this time, or judged it to be a waiting move and White's attack to have stalled. } 31...Rc8 { A bit of a 'shuffly' move this, isn't it? Perhaps Timman thought he had successfully battened down the hatches and could move the rook back and to with White unable to move the knight or thrust g2-g4? } ( 31...Bc8 { The problem with this move is that it frees White's knight to join the attack, which is decisive. } 32.Ng5 { White is a bit like a boa constrictor, here, slowly but surely squeezing what little life Black has out of the position. } 32...Bxd7 { (...Qxd7 changes little -- and, of course, would be totally desperate) } 33.g4 { ! preparing to rip open the King. Access to the h6 of g6 squares for White's Queen ends the game, it is that simple. Black can resign here quite legitimately, White is not to be stopped. } ) 32.Kg3 { I think this move may have opened a few people's eyes. The King is not shuffling, but hopping along the dark squares in order to help deliver mate. Black is unable to do anything about this without heavy losses. } 32...Rce8 33.Kf4 { It is not often we see such King positions, certainly with the opponent's Queen still on the board. However, there are always exceptions to rules in chess and nuances in positions. } 33...Bc8 34.Kg5 { And here, Jan Timman resigned. The only way to prevent Kh6 and Qg7 mate is ...Kh7, which gives mate in 5. A very nicely played game from Nigel Short, in which the very nice finish was completely concieved by the excellent positional play which preceeded it. } 1-0