Miguel Illescas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Miguel Illescas |
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Illescas at the 2013 European Team Chess Championship
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| Full name | Miguel Illescas Córdoba |
| Country | Spain |
| Born | December 3, 1965 Barcelona, Spain |
| Title | Grandmaster (1986) |
| FIDE rating | 2613 (July 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2640 (July 1996) |
| Peak ranking | No. 26 (July 1996) |
Miguel Illescas Córdoba was born on December 3, 1965, in Barcelona, Spain. He is a famous Spanish chess player and a Grandmaster.
Contents
Miguel Illescas's Chess Journey
Miguel Illescas was a very talented chess player from a young age. When he was just 12 years old, he became the junior champion of Catalonia. Even though he studied computer science, chess was his true passion.
He continued to improve his chess skills. In 1986, he earned the title of International Master. Two years later, in 1988, he became a Grandmaster. For many years, Illescas was known as Spain's strongest and most consistent player. In 1993, he reached his highest ever Elo rating of 2620. This made him the 26th best player in the world at that time. In the same year, he played a match against Ljubomir Ljubojević that ended in a 4-4 tie, with all eight games being draws.
His Chess School
Around the time he became a top player, Miguel Illescas started his own chess school. It is called La Escuela de Ajedrez de Miguel Illescas, or EDAMI for short. This school helps students learn chess in different ways. They can attend classes in schools around Barcelona, learn online, or take private lessons. EDAMI also sells chess supplies, publishes a chess magazine, and organizes chess events. These events include tournaments and special displays where one master plays many people at once.
Tournament Successes
Miguel Illescas won many chess tournaments when he was younger. He tied for first place in Las Palmas in both 1987 and 1988. He also won in Oviedo in 1991. In 1991/92, he tied for first in Pamplona with Leonid Yudasin. He placed second in Wijk aan Zee in 1993, right after the famous player Anatoly Karpov.
He continued his winning streak in the late 1990s. He won in Linares (Mexico) in 1994 and in Linares (Spain) in 1995. In 1996, he tied for first in Madrid with Veselin Topalov. He also tied for first in Pamplona in 1997/98 with Ulf Andersson. More recently, in 2003, he tied for first in Pamplona again, sharing the win with Luke McShane and Emil Sutovsky.
Illescas has won the Spanish national championship many times. He won in 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2010. He has also played for Spain in many Olympiads since 1986. At the Olympiad in Turin in 2006, he won an individual bronze medal.
Working with Supercomputers and Champions
In 1997, Miguel Illescas joined a special team. This team, led by IBM, was preparing the super-computer Deep Blue for its second match against Garry Kasparov. Kasparov was the world champion at the time. Illescas worked with other chess experts like Joel Benjamin and Nick DeFirmian. The project was a huge success, and Deep Blue won the match. This work showed that Illescas was a great analyst and understood how top players think.
Because of his skills, he was chosen to help Vladimir Kramnik in his world championship match against Kasparov in 2000. Kramnik won and became the new world champion. Illescas also helped Kramnik defend his title in 2004 against Peter Leko. He also assisted Kramnik in the 2006 match against Topalov. Illescas sees himself as both a coach and a guide in these situations. He helps with chess analysis and also understands the opponent's thinking and personality.
In 2004, he received the title of FIDE Senior Trainer. This means he is recognized as a top chess coach.
Other Interests
Miguel Illescas is also interested in Fischer-Random chess, which is a different version of chess. He even challenged the famous chess legend Bobby Fischer to a match in this style!
Today, even though other strong Spanish players like Alexei Shirov and Francisco Vallejo Pons have emerged, Miguel Illescas is still a respected and tough competitor in the chess world.
See also
In Spanish: Miguel Illescas para niños
