Short's Immortal King Walk - Every Chess Move Explained - Short vs. Timman, 1991
Today, Nigel Short is perhaps best known as the vice president of FIDE and an active player (He's won tournaments on each continent besides Antarctica.) and chess promoter who is never shy to share his opinion on Twitter.
While many may be aware of Short's challenge to Garry Kasparov for the (PCA) World Chess Championship in 1993, it's easy to forget how he earned the right to that match. In the World Championship cycle from 1990-1993, Short bested both Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman (and Jon Speelman and Boris Gelfand) in impressive matches and demonstrated a convincing dominance over the field. This would in fact be the last time that a full Candidates' match cycle was played to determine a World Chess Championship challenger.
In addition to winning the cycle, Short played sparkling chess in the period. His finest game of the period is unquestionably his victory over Jan Timman.
Top 10 Games of the 1990s
- #1: ???
- #2: Short vs. Timman, 1991
- #3: Ivanchuk vs. Yusupov, 1991 (blog)
- #4: Ivanchuk vs. Shirov, 1996 (blog)
- #5: Isaev vs. Timoshenko, 1991 (blog)
- #6: Ivanchuk vs. Anand, 1991 (blog)
- #7: Nunn vs. Nataf, 1999 (blog)
- #8: Kasparov vs. Kramnik, 1996 (blog)
- #9: Kramnik vs. Shirov, 1994 (blog)
- #10: Passov vs. Sammour-Hasbun, 1991 (blog)
- See also: Top 10 of the 2000s, and Top 10 of the 2010s
Short's incredible king walk against Timman is not entirely unique in the annals of chess (See Teichmann vs. Allies and Hillarp-Persson vs. Laurusas and perhaps Alekhine vs. Yates), but it's close. Certainly, the conclusion of this game makes an incredible impression on all who see it.
Although the finish is famous, don't miss the build-up as Short plays brilliant and instructive chess to build the stranglehold that allows him to finish the game.
Lessons:
- Don't fianchetto against a strong pawn on e5.
- Control the open files AND invade.
- Details (Be3!) matter.
My notes are below.
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I'm the Head of Community for Chess.com. I earned the National Master title in 2012, and in 2014, I returned to my home state of South Carolina to start Strategery: Chess and Games. In late 2015, I began working for Chess.com and haven't looked back since.
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