Jan Timman passed away on Wednesday, February 18, in his hometown of Arnhem, Netherlands.

Timman was one of the greatest chess players in the history of the Netherlands. In 1982, he was ranked second in the world. In 1993, he played a match for the World Champion Title against the reigning Champion Anatoly Karpov.

The career of the Jan Timman spanned many decades. Between 1972 and 2004, Timman participated in 13 Chess Olympiads for the Dutch national team, playing on the first board 11 times. He became Dutch Champion 9 times and attracted attention in 2024 when he took part in the national championship at the age of 72.

Jan Timman was known for his deep analytical works, which he published in ‘Schaakbulletin’ and ‘New In Chess’ magazines. In recent years, Timman focused on composing endgame studies.

Jan earned the nickname ‘Best of the West’ because many considered him the strongest chess player in the world after Kasparov and Karpov, who lived in the USSR — ‘in the East’.