incumbent world champion better than most. 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 (Topalov chose Illescas' compatriot Francisco Vallejo Pons for 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. In 2004 he was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer. 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. 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. References Illescas Tournament record Olimpbase - Olympiads and other Team event information External links Biographical data of Miguel Illescas EDAMI - Miguel Illescas Chess School Homepage (in Spanish) Illescas' games at Chessgames.com 1965 births Living people Chess grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Chess coaches Spanish chess players Sportspeople from Barcelona