Illescas Córdoba Miguel (03.12.1965)

Spanish Grandmaster (1988). He became then the best Spanish player since the legendary Arturo Pomar after winning eight times the national championship: 1989 (co), 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010. A participant in 12 Olympiads between 1986 and 2014.

Best results: winner pr shared first at Las Palmas 1987, Palma 1991, Logrono 1991, Pamplona 1991 and 2004, Lisbon 1991, Madrid 1996.

Illescas lost two matches vs. Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand by 4,5-1,5 and drew 4-4 in 1993 with Ljubomir Ljubojević and 1-1 in 2008 with the software world chess champion Deep Junior. A participant in two  Interzonals in 1990 and 1993 and the 1997 World Chess Championship.

A coach since 2000, he launched the online chess school – La Escuela de Ajedrez de Miguel Illescas -(EDAMI) and became chief editor of the Spanish monthly magazine Peon de Rey. In 1997, he was appointed to the IBM-led team that prepared the supercomputer Deep Blue in the build up to the second match with Garry Kasparov. Later he joints Vladimir Kramnik as a second for his world championship clashes against Garry Kasparov (2000), Peter Leko (2004) and Vaselin Topalov (2006).

Peak rating: 2640 in 1996.