Miguel Illescas Córdoba (born December 3, 1965 in Barcelona) is a prominent Spanish grandmaster of chess. is the 337th day of the year (338th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Location Coordinates : Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer: CEST (GMT +2) General information Native name Barcelona (Catalan) Spanish name Barcelona Nickname Ciutat Comtal (City of Counts) Postal code 08001–08080 Area code 34 (Spain) + 93 (Barcelona) Website http://www. ... For other uses, see Chess (disambiguation). ...

He was a highly skilled player as a youngster and became junior champion of Catalonia at the age of 12. A trained computer scientist, chess remained his real passion and continued progress brought him an International Master title in 1986, followed by the Grandmaster title in 1988. Illescas rapidly became Spain's strongest and most consistent player over many years, registering his country's highest ever Elo rating (2620) in 1993, making him at the time, world number 26. His 1993 match with Ljubomir Ljubojević ended 4-4 with all eight games drawn. The title International Master is awarded to outstanding chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. The title is open to both men and women. ... The title Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. ... The ELO rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess and Go. ... Ljubomir Ljubojević is a Grandmaster of chess. ...

Around this time, he established his own chess school - La Escuela de Ajedrez de Miguel Illescas, or EDAMI for short. The school is flexibly structured and allows for students to learn at sessions held in the schools around Barcelona, or on the internet or as private lessons. EDAMI also acts as a chess supplier and not unlike the London Chess Centre, provides a shop, publishes a regular chess magazine and arranges events such as tournaments, simultaneous displays and the like. Location Coordinates : Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer: CEST (GMT +2) General information Native name Barcelona (Catalan) Spanish name Barcelona Nickname Ciutat Comtal (City of Counts) Postal code 08001–08080 Area code 34 (Spain) + 93 (Barcelona) Website http://www. ...

As a young man, Illescas' tournament results were noteworthy; 1st= Las Palmas 1987 and 1988, 1st Oviedo 1991, 1st= Pamplona 1991/92 (with Leonid Yudasin), 2nd= Leon 1992 (after Boris Gulko), 3rd Chalkidiki 1992 (after Vladimir Kramnik and Joel Lautier), 1st Lisbon Zonal 1993 and 2nd Wijk aan Zee 1993 (after Anatoly Karpov). He kept winning during the latter part of the nineties also; 1st Linares (MEX) 1994, 1st Linares (ESP) Zonal 1995, 1st= Madrid 1996 (with Veselin Topalov) and 1st= Pamplona 1997/98 (with Ulf Andersson). More recently he finished 1st= at Pamplona in 2003, this time sharing victory with Luke McShane and Emil Sutovsky. Leonid Grigoryevich Yudasin (born Leningrad, August 8, 1959) is a prominent Jewish grandmaster of chess now living in Israel. ... Boris Gulko Boris Gulko (b. ... Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (Russian: ) (born June 25, 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion. ... Joel Lautier (born 12 April 1973) is a French chess grandmaster. ... Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Russian: ) (born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. ... Veselin Topalov (IPA: ; Bulgarian: ) (born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and former FIDE world champion. ... Ulf Andersson (born June 27, 1951 in Västerås, Sweden) is a leading Swedish chess player. ... Luke McShane (born January 7, 1984) is an English chess player. ... Emil Sutovsky (born 19 September 1977) is an Israeli chess Grandmaster. ...

So far, he has won the Spanish national championship of 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2005. In team competition, he has represented his country at many Olympiads from 1986 onwards and won an individual bronze medal at Turin in 2006. Winner list: 2004 Miguel Illescas 2003 Óscar de la Riva 2002 Alexei Shirov 2001 Miguel Illescas 2000 Ángel Martín 1999 Miguel Illescas 1998 Miguel Illescas 1997 Pablo San Segundo 1996 Sergio Estremera 1995 Miguel Illescas 1994 Sergio Cacho 1993 Lluis Comas 1992 Juan Mario Gómez 1991 Manuel Rivas... The Chess Olympiad is a chess event which has been officially organised by FIDE since 1927 and takes place in even years. ... For other uses, see Turin (disambiguation). ...

In 1997, he was appointed to the IBM-led team that prepared the super-computer Deep Blue in the build up to a second match with Garry Kasparov. Working with Joel Benjamin, Nick DeFirmian and John Fedorowicz, the project and match result were an unreserved success and this undoubtedly enhanced his reputation as an analyst, team player and perhaps most importantly, someone who understood the psyche of the incumbent world champion better than most. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Garry Kimovich Kasparov (IPA: ; Russian: ) (born April 13, 1963, in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR) (now Azerbaijan) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer and political activist. ... Joel Benjamin (born March 11, 1964) is a chess Grandmaster. ... Nicholas Ernest (Nick) de Firmian (born July 26, 1957 in Fresno, California), is a chess grandmaster and three-time U.S. chess champion, winning in 1987 (with Joel Benjamin), 1995, and 1998. ... John Peter Fedorowicz (b. ...

Consequently, he was a logical choice to join Kramnik as a second for his world championship clash with Kasparov in 2000. Kramnik became champion and the winning partnership was restored for the 2004 defence against Peter Leko and the 2006 reunification match with Topalov ( - curiously, Topalov chose to include Illescas' compatriot Francisco Vallejo Pons in his own team of seconds). Illescas sees himself as part coach and part guru in these situations, involving himself with not just the chess analysis, but also the thought process and personality traits of the opponent. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Image:Leko2. ... Francisco Vallejo Pons - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

As a sideline, he has also developed an interest in Fischer-Random chess and even laid down a challenge to Bobby Fischer to play a match with him. One of 960 possible starting positions. ... Robert James Bobby Fischer (born March 9, 1943) is a United States-born chess Grandmaster who in 1972 became the only US-born chessplayer to become the official World Chess Champion. ...

With the arrival of super-grandmaster Alexei Shirov in 1994 and the subsequent emergence of Vallejo Pons as a world class grandmaster, Illescas may no longer be Spanish number one, but he remains a tough and widely respected competitor. Alexei Shirov Alexei Shirov (Aleksejs Širovs, Алексе́й Широв) (born July 4, 1972 in Riga, Latvia), is one of the top chess grandmasters in the world today. ...

References

• Illescas Tournament record (in Spanish)

• Olimpbase - Olympiads and other Team event information

External links

• Miguel Illescas in bidmonfa.com
• EDAMI - Miguel Illescas Chess School Homepage (in Spanish)

• Illescas' games at Chessgames.com

• FIDE rating card for Miguel Illescas