Miguel Illescas:

A slow sacrifice? Think twice!

Please, study the following game without
annotations, and try to understand the logic
behind each move. Later, you can compare
your thoughts with those of the author.
Kantans T. : Illescas Cordoba M.
Tromso 2014
1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 cd4 5.Nd4
Nc6 6.Nb3 d6 7.Nc3 Be6 8.00 Bc3 9.bc3
Qd7 10.Re1 Bh3 11.Bh1 h5 12.Nd4 h4
13.Rb1 hg3 14.hg3 Rc8 15.Nc6 bc6 16.Qd4
e5 17.Qa4 Be6 18.Bg2 Nf6 19.Rb8 Rb8
20.Bc6 Rh1 21.Kh1 Bd5 22.Kg1 Qc6
23.Qh4 Qc3 24.Rf1 Nh5 25.g4 Rb4 26.f3
Nf4 27.Qh8 Kd7 28.Bf4 Rf4 0:1.
We will deal with each of the moves, with a
clear preference for text explanations over
long variations. Having been the protagonist
of the game, I will be able to convey the
thoughts of a grandmaster quite accurately.
1.Nf3
My opponent decides against his normal
1.e4 and goes for a closed setup in which he
has less experience. He is paying a high
price to surprise me.
1...c5
As I had prepared the Sicilian for this game,
I was ready to meet 2.e4.
2.g3
The fianchetto is a solid option, guaranteeing
White a harmonious development of his
kingside.
2g6
I also decided to fianchetto my kingside
bishop. This leads to slow play, allowing
White to have a free hand in the center, but
black keeps great flexibility for
development.
3.Bg2
For obvious reasons, this move is played
automatically after g3.
FIDE Surveys Miguel Illescas

3Bg7
And the same thing can be said for Black.
This setup can transpose to different
openings and defenses.

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4.d4?!
According to my knowledge, this is not the
best moment to break open the center, since
Black will win some tempi by quickly
attacking d4. The flexible 4.00 would have
been wiser. Also good were 4.e4 or 4.c4
transposing to other lines.
4cd4
Although this capture is optional, in this case
it is logical: that was precisely why I put the
pawn on c5!
5.Nd4
Forced: otherwise White may just be a pawn
down.
5Nc6!
Now we can see the difference with other
variations of the English Opening, in which
the black knight is already on f6. There,
White can continue with his development.
But now, he has to deal with the attack on
his knight.
6.Nb3
After 6.Nc6 bc6 7.00 Rb8 8.Nd2 Nf6
9.Nb3 Qc7 10.Bd2 d6 11.Ba5 Qd7 black was
ok in Illescas M. : Gheorghiu F., Badalona
1982.
6d6!?
After a brief reflection I decided to play this
move, leading the game towards typical
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Sicilian Dragon structures. Natural was

6...Nf6 which would guarantee comfortable
equality but as we shall see, I had a very
agressive idea in my mind.
7.Nc3
A normal developing move. However, as we
shall see it has a very specific inconvenient.
If 7.00 I would have continued with
7...Be6 with similar ideas than in the game.
7Be6
I used up nearly ten minutes to play this
move. My original idea was to capture on c3
immediately 7...Bc3!? 8.bc3 but it seemed to
me that in White could delay castling in
order to accelerate his play on the queenside
with 9.Nd4 and 10.Rb1.
8.00
At last my opponent castles, giving me the
chance to put my plan into practice. The
move 8.Nd5 would have been interesting, to
oppose Black's plans. After 8...Nf6 9.e4 00
the position was equal in Psakhis L. :
Gorelov S., Moscow 1981.
8Bc3! 9.bc3

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The idea of capturing on c3 is not new at all,
but for those players unfamiliar with the
theme it can be quite shocking that Black
gives away his excellent bishop with such
lack of care. It's true that the price is high,
but the damage done to White's pawn
structure is tremendous: three healthy pawns
have been turned into weak ones, especially
c2 and c3, which - situated on a semi-open
FIDE Surveys Miguel Illescas

file have become easy targets. Black has

guaranteed himself a better ending but, as
Tarrasch said "between the opening and the
endgame, the gods have placed the
middlegame".
9Qd7
This move seems quite sensible, as my next
strategic aim is to eliminate my opponent's
bishop pair.
10.Re1
My opponent didn't seem to be very worried.
He only spent four minutes on this move,
which is intended to keep his fianchetto
bishop alive.
10Bh3
Although I can't force the exchange of the
bishops, I had no doubts about this move.
The h3 square is an excellent place for my
bishop.
11.Bh1
White doesn't see any reason to change his
game plan. He calmly hides his bishop away,
confident that it will play an essential role in
the positional fight on the queenside.
However, my next move will totally change
the course of the game, and my opponent
will understand what's really going on.

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11h5!?
Once h2 is fixed, White no longer has the
standard blocking move h2h4. Therefore,
he can't prevent the opening of the h-file. It
took me some time to decide between
playing on the kingside or the queenside,
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because both options seemed quite attractive.

Before launching my attack on the kingside I
would have liked to consolidate my
advantage on the queenside, but after the
natural 11...Rc8 12.Nd4 Ne5 I was deeply
bothered by 13.Nf3! as if 13...Nf3 (13...Nc4
doesn't work due to 14.Qd4, with a double
attack on h8 and a7.) 14.ef3! and White
opens up the game in his favor.
12.Nd4
Correctly bringing back the knight into play.
12h4
I finally decided to concentrate all my
energy on the kingside. A move trying to
keep the advantage on the queenside was
12...Na5 which I hardly considered. It's
actually quite slow and after 13.Rb1 Rc8
14.e4 b6 15.e5! White activates his position.
13.Rb1
White correctly continues to deploy his
pieces. However, observe that the bishop on
c1 can't participate actively in the fight at the
moment. This strategic factor is very
important in this type of structures.
13hg3
Here, there is no reason to postpone this
move. White is forced to decide which pawn
must recapture
14.hg3
This move maintains White's kingside pawn
structure intact. In a game between two
amateurs 14.fg3 was played which, although
positionally ugly, does hinder Black's attack
on the h-file. Let me mention that the
impatient 14.Rb7?? would be a huge mistake
due to 14...gh2 15.Kh2 Bg2!
14Rc8
Sooner or later this move was necessary. If
my opponent allows me, I could now
consider retreating my knight to a5 or d8.
14...Nd8? was clearly a mistake because of
15.Rb7! The fact that both of us considered
these tactical blows may be related to what
happened later in the game.

FIDE Surveys Miguel Illescas

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15.Nc6!
Closing once and for all the c-file, improving
significantly the situation of the white pawns
c2 and c3.
15bc6
There is no other option, but imagine how
important is the c-file that I was considering
15...Rc6?, which is simply bad, as White
can continue 16.Qd4! Nf6 17.Qa7 with an
advantage.
16.Qd4!
The white queen becomes active by
attacking the rook on h8. There is no doubt
about the validity of this move.
16e5
Other options make sense, but from a
practical point of view Black's play would be
difficult without this move.
17.Qa4
This natural move surprised me. I was
expecting 17.Qb4 with the idea 18.Qb7
which should lead to a balanced position.
But my opponent spent a lot of time here and
I think that he was already considering the
sacrifice played later on.
17Be6
It seemed to me that my bishop was getting
in the way of my attack on the open file. I
wanted to open the way for a possible
exchange sacrifice, rook for bishop. I was
also attracted to the pressure that my bishop
was applying on the queenside and the
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option of playing ...Bd5 at some point, after

developing the g8 knight.
18.Bg2
After thinking for a few minutes my
opponent played this prophylactic move.
18Nf6
At last I decided to develop my knight. I
thought doing so through e7, which was an
equivalent option. Luckily for me, in view of
what happened later, I moved
19.Rb8??

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My opponent made this "blunder" after
thinking for more than ten minutes. The
white move deserves a double question
mark; in tennis it would be named an
unforced error.
Before doing this kind of "slow sacrifice",
one that doesn't recover the material
immediately, it is recommended to check all
possible replies by the opponent. If a move
is legal, it must be checked!
I was expecting 19.Qa6!, to invade on b7. I
was going to reply with 19...00 (I
calculated that tactical ideas such as
19...Bd5?! didn't work, due to 20.e4 Be4?
21.Re4!) 20.Rb7 Rc7 with approximate
equality.
On the other hand, it must be said that
White's dark-squared bishop does have
trouble participating in the game in this
structure, and after a "natural" move such as
19.Bg5?! the move 19...Nd5 20.Qa5 f6!
would follow, and not only White doesn't
FIDE Surveys Miguel Illescas

have a good square for his bishop but he also

has trouble facing the dangerous threat
21...Qh7
19Rb8!
I must admit that my opponent's move took
me by surprise, but I found the simple and
beautiful refutation, based on geometrical
motives, in a couple of minutes. I think that
grandmasters we have a sort of natural
"radar" to detect this type of things. Still, I
think that this type of intuition can be
developed. It might be useful to take notice
of all the warning signs when there is an
important material unbalance coming from a
"slow" combination: in this lapse of time any
unexpected move can be lethal.
20.Bc6
It's difficult to guess if White saw what was
going to happen but in any case there was no
way back.
20Rh1!!

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A beautiful attraction sacrifice. The daring
rook leaps into the unknown and sacrifices
itself on a square on which it can be captured
not by one, but by two enemy pieces!
21.Kh1
The capture is forced. Black's combination
works here because White's queen is
unprotected.
21Bd5 22.Kg1
Again, if 22.Bd5 Qa4 and White loses his
queen.
22Qc6
4

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White has lost a piece without
compensation, and the game could well have
finished here.
23.Qh4 Qc3 24.Rf1 Nh5 25.g4 Rb4 26.f3
Nf4 27.Qh8 Kd7 28. Bf4 Rf4 0:1.

FIDE Surveys Miguel Illescas