The King Walk
Short, Nigel against Timman, Jan · Interpolis 15th · 1991.10.21 · 1–0
The story behind it
Tilburg, 1991: with the pieces still on the board, Short sees that nothing Black has can cross the light squares — so the white king himself marches up the board, Kh2, Kg3, Kf4, Kg5, to deliver mate in person. Timman resigned before the final step.
The moments
Click one — the board above jumps there.
The players
in the archive
Short, Nigel
English grandmaster who challenged Garry Kasparov for the world title in 1993 — the first Briton to play a world championship match in the modern era. A fearless attacking player, remembered above all for marching his own king up the board to deliver mate against Jan Timman at Tilburg 1991.
in the archive
Timman, Jan
Dutch grandmaster, long the strongest Western player of his generation — 'the Best of the West' — world championship finalist in 1993, author and analyst of rare depth, and editor of New in Chess for decades.
The score
The moves are history's; we checked them against it.
ECO B04 · our PGN header reads Date 1991.10.21
↓ DOWNLOAD PGN
