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

2

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
9r+l+r+k+0
9zpp+nwqpvlp0
9-+pzp-snp+0
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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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

3

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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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

4

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
9r+l+r+k+0
9+p+-wqpvl-0
9-+pzp-+p+0
9zp-sn-+-+p0
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9zPP+-+-zPP0
9-vLQ+-+L+0
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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
9r+-+r+k+0
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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
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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
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26.Rf1!
Preparing the final combination which
Black can’t really prevent.
26...Ra7

FIDE Surveys – Miguel Illescas

6

XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+r+k+0
9tr-+l+nvl-0
9-+p+p+N+0
9zppwqpzP-+Q0
9-+P+-+-+0
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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
9-+-+r+k+0
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9zppwqpzP-vL-0
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.