FIDE Surveys – Miguel Illescas 

1 

 

Miguel Illescas: 
 

MODERN OPENING PREPARATION 
(A nocturnal recipe against the King’s 
Indian) 
 
The following game was played in the last 
round of the Spanish Championship held in 
Linares (Spain), in the late summer of 
2013. What happened in the hours before 
had a great influence on the development 
of the game, so I will deal with it before 
we get to the chess contents. 
The previous day I had lost a decisive 
game in my fight for the title, which was 
now mathematically out of my reach. I had 
every reason to feel unhappy, because 
although my opponent GM Ivan Salgado 
had played very well and deserved to win, 
my opening play with White was honestly 
very poor, unnatural and contrary to my 
style. In fact, I could not help feeling that I 
had thrown the game overboard in the first 
ten moves. 
As usually happens after such a defeat, that 
night I couldn’t sleep: the hours went by 
and I kept going over my mistakes in the 
game again and again. Five in the morning 
came round and I still hadn’t slept a wink. 
As the last round had to be played at nine 
in the morning, I decided to take a shower 
and use the lack of sleep to try and prepare 
as thoroughly as possible for my last round 
game, as a win would guarantee second 
place. I told myself that since my mood 
was not very good, I should try to 
compensate it by achieving a decent 
opening position. 
With the help of my computer, I 
considered the different defenses that my 
opponent, GM Manuel Perez Candelario, 
might use with special emphasis in the 
analysis of a specific variation of the 
King's Indian Defense which could easily 
appear on the board. I analyzed the main 
options in each of the lines, trying to 
cover the tree of variations widthwise 
rather than lengthwise. 
But one must always pay special 
attention to the best moves for each 

player, so that in some variations my 
analysis went beyond move 20. Finally, it 
was time to play and I was very lucky to 
guess correctly: Manuel played all the best 
moves on that line of the Kings Indian, one 
after another, and I was able to string 
together no less than 17 moves of my 
preparation. 
I hadn’t slept at all but, perhaps as a 
reward for the previous night’s effort, 
fortune knocked at my door. Pure luck 
however, as I must confess that at five in 
the morning I was seriously considering 
watching a movie instead of studying the 
labyrinth of the King's Indian Defense ... 
 
Illescas Cordoba M. : Perez Candel. M.       
Linares 2013 
 
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3  
The fianchetto is a solid option against the 
King’s Indian defence. Among other things 
it prevents Black from organizing an attack 
on the kingside, as it happens in some 
other variations.  
3...Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.Nf3  
I would normally play 5.Nc3 here, but I 
wanted to try out an idea to sidestep my 
opponent’s preparation. 
5...d6  
Black can choose the Grunfeld defence 
now with 5...d5, but Candelario’s plans for 
this game didn’t include this option.  
6.0–0 Nbd7  
This is the line that I hoped Perez 
Candelario would go for, as he had already 
tried out this setup before. Black could 
now choose between several different 
setups, associated with different moves.  
The main alternatives are 6...Nc6, 6...c6 or 
6...c5.  
7.Qc2!? 
This move order, delaying the 
development of the queenside knight, 
restricts Black’s options. I was convinced 
that it would surprise my opponent, as I 
had never used it before. 
I did know that my opponent had some 
experience in the variation 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4 
a6!?. In this line Black fights for an active 

FIDE Surveys – Miguel Illescas 

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game by exchanging the knight on d4 
followed by the c7-c5 push, frequently 
preceded by …Ne5. My opponent would 
have probably found one of my old games 
in his database: 9.Qc2 ed4 10.Nd4 Ne5 
11.b3 c5 12.Nde2 Rb8 13.a4 Bg4 14.f3 
Bd7 15.Rd1 Ne8 16.f4 Nc6 17.Be3 Bg4 
18.Rab1 Qa5 19.h3 Be2 20.Ne2 b5 21.ab5 
ab5 22.cb5 Rb5 23.Kh2, Illescas Cordoba 
M. : Piket J., Linares 1995. 
7...e5 8.Rd1  
By quickly placing the rook on d1 White 
prevents Black’s modern plans based on 
a7-a6 and the game drifts towards more 
classical setups in this old variation of the 
King’s Indian. Although each of his 
following moves can be considered 
perfectly natural, Perez Candelario began 
to think and displayed some discomfort 
with the course of the game.  
8...Qe7  
There are several move orders that lead to 
the same game position after move 13, for 
example: 8...Re8 9.Nc3 c6 10.e4 ed4 
11.Nd4 Qe7 12.b3 or 8...ed4 9.Nd4 Re8 
10.Nc3 c6 11.e4 Qe7 12.b3. 
9.Nc3 c6 10.e4 Re8  

XIIIIIIIIY 
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9+-+-zp-+-0 
9-+PzPP+-+0 
9+-sN-+NzP-0 
9PzPQ+-zPLzP0 
9tR-vLR+-mK-0 
xiiiiiiiiy 

11.b3  
Black is unnecessarily delaying the 
exchange on d4 which made me think that 
maybe 11.d5!? would be interesting. 
However, I decided not to stray away from 
my preparation. 
11...ed4 12.Nd4 Nc5 13.f3 Nfd7!  

Clearly the best move, opening the way for 
the f-pawn. If Black goes 13...a5 White can 
play 14.Be3! Nfd7 15.Bf2 and White’s 
bishop has a very safe and active position, 
from where it attack’s the queenside and at 
the same time defends his king. In this 
variation 14...d5?! doesn’t work, because 
of 15.cd5 cd5 16.Bg5!± and Black loses  
material. 
14.Rb1  
I was playing very fast, because we were 
still following the main line that I had 
prepared the night before.  
14.Be3?! can’t be recommended because 
of the advance 14...f5!  
14.b4!? is interesting. Play could continue 
14...Ne6 15.Nb3 (But not 15.Be3? Ne5 
16.Ne6 Be6 17.c5, Matlak M. : Trapl J., 
Ceske Budejovice; 17...Qf6!) 15...Ne5 
16.Ne2, reaching a very complicated 
position that deserves to be analyzed 
deeply. 
14...a5  
A standard move that strengthens the 
position of the black knight on 'c5' and 
allows the 'a8' rook to participate in the 
game, if only performing control tasks.  
No one has dared to play 14...f5!?N yet, 
but it deserves to be considered. The idea 
is that after 15.ef5? Bd4 16.Rd4 Qe1 
17.Bf1 Ne5 Black has the advantage. 

XIIIIIIIIY 
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9-+PsNP+-+0 
9+PsN-+PzP-0 
9P+Q+-+LzP0 
9+RvLR+-mK-0 
xiiiiiiiiy 

15.Nce2!  
During my preparation I liked this 
prophylactic move a lot. It strengthens the 
‘d4’ square considerably and continues 

FIDE Surveys – Miguel Illescas 

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with the strategy initiated with my 
previous move of moving pieces away 
from the a1–h8 diagonal, restricting the 
strength of the Indian bishop.  
15.f4? would not have been appropriate, 
due to 15... Nf6! 16.Re1 Nfe4.  
And against 15.a3 the advance 15...f5!? is 
even more interesting than on the previous 
move. 
15...Ne5 16.h3  
More prophylaxis and control moves in 
Karpov style. 16.f4? is still bad, because of 
16...Ng4 17.Nc3 Nf6 and White is unable 
to defend his e4 pawn. 
16...h5  
Black is playing consistently with the 
standard patterns in the line. He prepares a 
possible h5-h4 advance and at the same 
time prevents White’s standard g4-f4 
expansion. However, it’s not the only way 
to go.  
A game between two specialists in this 
variation continued 16...Qf8!? 17.g4 f5 
18.ef5 gf5 19.Ng3 fg4 20.hg4 Ng6 
21.Ndf5 Bf5 22.Nf5 Re6 23.Bg5 Rae8 
24.Qd2 Re2 25.Qd6 Ra2 26.Be3 Qd6 
27.Rd6 Nh4 28.Bc5 Rg2 29.Kf1 Nf5 
30.Kg2 Nd6 31.Bd6 b5 32.f4 Rd8 33.Bc7 
Rd2 34.Kf3 Bc3 35.cb5 cb5 36.Rc1, ½–½, 
Drasko M. : Kotronias V., Dresden 2008. 
A previous Kotronias game featured the 
artificial 16...f6. That game continued 
17.Kh2 Bd7 18.a3 Rec8 19.f4 Nf7 20.b4 
ab4 21.ab4 Na4, Henrichs T. : Kotronias 
V., Kallithea 2008 and now White could 
have played 22.Ra1! c5 23.bc5 and 
White’s position would have been slightly 
better.  
A possible novelty is 16...Ne6!?N, a 
natural move that nobody has decided to 
play yet. 
17.a3  
A typical move, preparing the eventual 
advance b4. Alternatively, the move 
17.f4?! is, as always, quite premature, in 
view of 17...Ned7 and the e4 pawn is very 
weak. 
In the game Maiorov N. : Banikas H., 
Rethymnon 2010, the interesting 
prophylactic move 17.Kh1!? was answered 

with an aggressive piece sacrifice 17...Nf3 
18.Nf3 Ne4. Black ended up with two 
pawns and active piece play for the knight, 
but I am unsure as to whether this offers 
enough compensation. Play continued 
19.Kg1 Nf6 20.Nf4 Bf5 21.Nd3 Ne4 
22.Re1 Qf8?! (Better was 22...Qd7.) 
23.Nh4! Ng3 24.Bf4! Ne4 25.Nf5 gf5 
26.Kh2±. 
17...Ne6!  
Anticipating White’s intentions, this move 
is aimed at the exchange of a piece, which 
normally favours the player with less 
space. My preparation more or less 
finished here: White has reached a very 
playable position, which is both tactically 
and strategically very rich in content. From 
now on I had to make the decisions in real 
time.  
The text move is better than 17...a4? 18.b4 
Ne6 (18...Nb3?! 19.Nb3 ab3 20.Rb3 Be6 
21.Rc3.) 19.f4 Nd4 20.Nd4 Nd7 21.Bb2 
Nf6 22.Re1 Bd7 23.Rbd1±, Drasko M. : 
Pavlovic M, Cacak. 

XIIIIIIIIY 
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9zPP+-+PzPP0 
9-+Q+N+L+0 
9+RvLR+-mK-0 
xiiiiiiiiy 

18.Nxe6!?N  
This was the first move in the game where 
I stopped to think. I already had an 
important advantage on the clock – more 
than forty minutes I seem to recall – and it 
was quite obvious that my preparation had 
produced a psychological impact in my 
opponent, as he seemed to be seriously 
worried and restless. I had to exploit this 
advantage by drawing up a good plan that 

FIDE Surveys – Miguel Illescas 

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would give him some new problems to 
solve.  
I remembered having seen a game that 
continued with 18.f4 Nd4 19.Nd4 Nd7 
20.Bb2, but I didn’t like the position of the 
bishop on b2 in this variation. Therefore I 
decided to look for some other ideas. Here 
follow a few interesting games that 
continue from this position, a brief 
theoretical summary after 20...Nc5! 21.Re1  

XIIIIIIIIY 
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9zPP+-+-zPP0 
9-vLQ+-+L+0 
9+R+-tR-mK-0 
xiiiiiiiiy 

a) 21...Be6 22.Rbd1 Rad8?! 23.b4! ab4 
24.ab4 Na6 25.b5! Nb4 26.Qc3 (26.Qd2! 
c5 27.Nf5!±) 26...c5 27.Nf5 Bc3 28.Ne7 
Re7 29.Bc3 Red7 30.Bf6 Rc8? (30...Bc4 
31.Bd8 Rd8) 31.Bf1 b6 32.Rd2+-, Drasko  
M. : Nikolic M.,  Belgrade. 
b) 21...Qc7 22.Nf3 Bb2 23.Rb2 a4?! 24.b4 
Nb3 25.Qc3 c5, Drasko M. : Paunovic D., 
Herceg Novi; 26.b5!?. 
c) 21...f5?! 22.ef5! Bd4 23.Bd4 Qe1 
24.Re1 Re1 25.Kh2 Bf5 26.Qd2 Re7 
27.Bb2 Rae8 28.Qd6 Re2 29.Qd4! (Better 
than 29.Qf6 R8e7 30.Kg1 Re1 31.Kh2 
R1e2 32.Kg1 Re1 33.Kh2 R1e2 34.Kg1 
1/2–1/2, Marin M. : Kotronias V.,  
Plovdiv) 29...Ne6 30.Qh8 Kf7 31.Qh7 Kf8 
32.Be5 Rd8 33.c5 Be4 34.Qh8 Ke7 35.Qf6 
Kd7 36.Qf7 Kc8 37.Qe6 Rd7 38.Bf6 Rg2 
39.Kh1 Rgd2 40.Kg1 (40.Qe4 Rd1 41.Kg2 
R7d2 42.Kf3 Rf1 43.Ke3 Re1) 40...Kb8 
41.Be5 Ka7 42.Bd6 Rd1 43.Kf2 Bf5 
44.Qf6 Rd2 45.Ke1 Rd3 46.Qf8 Rb3 47.a4 
Re3 48.Kf2 Rd6 49.cd6 Rd3 and Black is 
still fighting although I don’t think that he 
will achieve a draw. 

d) A possible improvement is the original 
21...Qd8!?N, to transfer the queen to b6 or 
f6 depending on how the game proceeds, 
for example: 22.Rbd1 (If 22.Nf3 Bb2 
23.Rb2 Qf6!.) 22...Qb6 23.Kh2 Bd7. Once 
again the desired move 18.Be3?! can be 
answered by 18...f5! 19.ef5? Nd4. 
18...fe6?  
Although my opponent reacted rather well 
after being "caught" in the opening, Perez 
Candelario was unable to withstand the 
pressure: this pawn capture is a big 
mistake, as it weakens the g6 pawn 
decisively.  
The normal move was 18...Be6 with the 
idea a5-a4. I was thinking of playing 19.f4 
Nd7 and now I would have had to decide 
on the course of the game. I was 
considering several options but I was still 
undecided when my opponent surprisingly 
captured on e6 with his pawn.  

XIIIIIIIIY 
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9-+Q+N+L+0 
9+RvLR+-mK-0 
xiiiiiiiiy 

a) I had decided against 20.Bb2?! Bb2 
21.Rb2 a4! 22.b4?! Nb6! 
b) And I knew that  20.Be3? a4 21.b4 Bf5! 
was bad. 
c) I wanted to analyze deeply 20.f5, 
although my preliminary calculations led 
me to believe that after 20...Bf5! (Much 
better than 20...gf5 21.ef5 Bf5 22.Qf5 Qe2 
23.Bf4.) 21.ef5 Qe2 22.Qe2 Re2 23.fg6 
fg6 24.Rd6 Ne5 the game would be equal. 
d) I would have probably opted for 
20.Nd4, which leads to some complicated 
positions, for example after 20...Nc5 21.b4 
ab4 22.ab4 Na4 23.Ne6 Qe6 24.Rb3. 

FIDE Surveys – Miguel Illescas 

5 

 

19.f4 Nf7  
White would also be clearly better after 
19...Nd7 20.e5! as in the game. 
With the game's move Black would be fine 
if he had time to play e6-e5, but...   
20.e5!±  

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9-+Q+N+L+0 
9+RvLR+-mK-0 
xiiiiiiiiy 

This is the problem: with the black pawn 
on h7 everything would be fine, but now 
the black castled king will fall under a very 
strong attack.  
20...g5  
Trying to complicate the game. After 
20...de5 21.Qg6 White’s advantage is very 
clear. 
20...Kh7 doesn’t work due to 21.Be4 
winning. 
21.Qg6!  
The white queen creates havoc on the 
kingside. There is no good advice for 
Black.  
21...d5 22.Qxh5 gf4 23.Nf4!  
One of the advantages of playing the 
opening fast is that later on you have more 
time to calculate the middlegame 
complications, which in my case proved 
very useful as I hardly slept the night 
before. I took my time to capture with the 
knight because I wanted to be sure that the 
kingside attack was winning.  
I was tempted to consolidate the extra 
pawn with 23.gf4 but I considered that 
after 23...Nh6 Black could put up a lengthy 
defence. 
23...Bd7  

This move didn’t surprise me. Black tries 
to finish his development and for the 
moment forgets about getting his pawn 
back. I now calculated the game line up to 
the end. Truthfully, it wasn´t very difficult.  
Black can’t really do much to prevent the 
final assault on his weak king.  
After 23...Ne5 24.Re1 Nf7 25.cd5 cd5 
26.Nd5; or 23...Be5 24.Qg6 Bg7 25.Nh5 
Nh8 26.Nf6 an White’s advantage is 
decisive. 
Hardly better is 23...Qg5 24.Qg5 Ng5 
25.Nh5 and White has an important 
material and positional advantage. 
24.Ng6 Qc5 25.Kh2 b5  
25...Nh8 wouldn’t be very helpful for the 
defence, after 26.Nh8 Bh8 27.Bh6 Re7 (If 
27...Qe7 28.Rd4 is crushing.) 28.Qg5 Bg7 
29.b4 and the black queen must abandon 
the defence of the rook on e7. 

XIIIIIIIIY 
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9-+-+-+LmK0 
9+RvLR+-+-0 
xiiiiiiiiy 

26.Rf1!  
Preparing the final combination which 
Black can’t really prevent.  
26...Ra7  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

FIDE Surveys – Miguel Illescas 

6 

 

XIIIIIIIIY 
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9zPP+-+-zPP0 
9-+-+-+LmK0 
9+RvL-+R+-0 
xiiiiiiiiy 

27.Rf7!  
This sacrifice eliminates one of the 
defenders of the enemy’s king, and at the 
same time extracts his majesty to open 
ground.  
27...Kf7 28.Ne7!  
The king won’t be allowed to return to the 
warmth of the 'g8' square and he is forced 
to accept a second sacrifice. 
28...Kxe7  
After 28...Kf8 29.Qf3! Ke7 30.Bg5 Bf6 
31.Qf6# the game finishes even faster.  
29.Bg5  
White’s reserve pieces now come into play 
with check and Black’s king will be 
returned to the fold where it will receive 
mate.  
29...Kf8 30.Rf1 Kg8 31.Qf7  

XIIIIIIIIY 
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9-+P+-+-+0 
9zPP+-+-zPP0 
9-+-+-+LmK0 
9+-+-+R+-0 
xiiiiiiiiy 

and Black decided to resign in face of the 

imminent mate with the rook on the fourth 
rank, for example after 31...Kh8 32.Rf4 
Qf8 33.Rh4 Bh6 34.Bf6 Qg7 35.Qg7# 
mate.  1:0.