Chess

When a grandmaster passes his "best by" date, he has three options: to retire (which few can bring themselves to do); to play on with lower expectations and less effort; or to play on with a greater emphasis on enjoyment than on results.

If the retirement option is ruled out, it comes down to a choice between technique and fantasy. Most grandmasters, when past their prime, shift to automatic pilot and play out their last few decades exerting themselves only when unsporting opponents force them to think hard. Jan Timman, however, is one who has taken the fantasy option. After being a leading contender for the world title for 15 years, culminating in an unsuccessful match against Karpov for the Fide crown in 1993, he now seems to play mostly for the excitement and for sheer love of the game. "I need to play like this to stay interested in my games," he said recently. As a result, his games, which were always full of ideas at the worst of times, are now more exciting than ever. But the price is worse results. As this game from Wijk aan Zee shows, you can be too exciting for your own good.

Timman varied from an earlier game in the same tournament with the curious idea of 12.Qg5, which was intended to tie down the black knights. But his go-for-the-throat strategy on the K-side came unstuck against the surprising 16...h6! which gained Black the time needed to bring his knight into c5 and b3. The real killer was 33...a5! when White had been hoping for 33...Rxd6 34.Ra3.

White: Jan Timman

Black: Loek van Wely

1 d4 Nf6 21 Kc2 Na1+

2 c4 g6 22 Kc1 Qa4

3 Nc3 Bg7 23 Bd3 Nb3+

4 e4 d6 24 Kc2 Nc5+

5 f3 0-0 25 Kc1 Nb3+

6 Nge2 a6 26 Kc2 Nc5+

7 Bg5 c6 27 Kc1 Qb3

8 Qd2 b5 28 Qd2 Nfd7

9 Bh6 e5 29 f4 Nb6

10 0-0-0 Bxh6 30 f5 Nba4

11 Qxh6 Qa5 31 Rh3 Qa2

12 Qg5 Nbd7 32 Be2 Rd8

13 Ng3 b4 33 Qxb4 a5

14 Nb1 Qxa2 34 Qa3 Qxa3

15 Nf5 exd4 35 Rxa3 Rxd6

16 Nxd6 h6 36 e5 Rd8

17 Qxh6 Nc5 37 Bf3 Rb8

18 h4 Nb3+ 38 Bxc6 Nxb2

19 Kc1 Na1+ White resigns

20 Kc1 Nb3+