Efstratios Grivas (born March 30, 1966) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player who holds the titles of Grandmaster,

FIDE Senior Trainer FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

International Arbiter In chess tournaments, an arbiter is an official who oversees matches and ensures that the rules of chess are followed. International Arbiter ''International Arbiter'' is a title awarded by FIDE to individuals deemed capable of acting as arbiter ...

, and FIDE International Organizer.

Early years

He was born in Egio,

Achaia Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaḯa'', ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...

and grew up in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, in the neighbourhood of

Kallithea Kallithea (Greek language, Greek: Καλλιθέα, meaning "beautiful view") is a suburb in Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration and a municipality in South Athens (regional unit), south Athens regional unit. It is the eighth larges ...

, as his family moved to the Greek capital in 1970. His registration at the Kallithea Chess Club in 1979 was his first contact with chess. Two years later he won the Greek Cadet Championship, under the guidance of FM Panagiotis Drepaniotis (1979–1981). He wrote the book "The Grivas Sicilian".

Chess career

A relatively late starter, Grivas was taught how to play at a chess club when he was 13 years old. He was later trained by IM Dr. Nikolai Minev (1981–1982), FM Michalis Kaloskambis (1984–1986), GM

Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller (; ; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice (in 1955 and 1979) and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occa ...

(1987–1988) and IM Nikolai Andrianov (1990–1996). He took part in a FIDE training camp in Moscow in 1984. Grivas has played in Greece for the following clubs: Kallithea Chess Club (1979–1994), OAA “Iraklion” (1995–1998), Kavala Chess Club (1999), AO “Kydon” Khania (2000–2005) and A.E.K. (2006-). From 1982 until 1999 he represented Greece 186 times (12 in the National Junior Team and 174 in the National Men's Team), having participated in eight

Olympiads An olympiad (, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not until Hippias that a cons ...

(1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998), three

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

s (1989, 1992, 1997), and twelve Balkaniads (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994). His greatest success was winning the Silver Individual Medal (on 3rd board) at the

33rd Chess Olympiad The 33rd Chess Olympiad (, ''33-ya Shakhmatnaya olimpiada''; Kalmyk language, Kalmyk: 33-гче Шатрин олимпиад, ''33-gçe Şatrin olimpiad''), organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, took place between Se ...

in 1998. Other important successes were the Gold Individual Medal (on the 3rd board) at the European Team Championship in 1989, 4th place at the

World Junior Chess Championship The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The idea was the brainchild of William Rits ...

in 1985, 1st place at the 1987 Munich international tournament (320 participants), 11th individual place (on the 4th board) at the

32nd Chess Olympiad The 32nd Chess Olympiad (, ''32-rd Shakhmatayin olimpiadan''), organized by Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female ...

in 1996, qualification of his club (OAA “Iraklion”) to Europe's best 16 clubs in 1997 (European Club Cup) He scored the following at international tournaments: 3rd in

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1982, 1st in

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1983, 2nd in

Karditsa Karditsa ( ) is a city in western Thessaly in mainland Greece. The city of Karditsa is the capital of Karditsa regional unit of the region of Thessaly. Climate Karditsa has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: '' ...

1984, 3rd in

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1984, 2nd in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

1985, 2nd in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

1986, 3rd in

Xanthi Xanthi is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Amphitheatrically built on the foot of Rhodope mountain chain, the city is divided ...

1991, 2nd in

Gausdal Gausdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Segelstad bru. Other villages in Gausdal include Follebu, Forse ...

1993, 3rd in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

1994, 2nd in

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

1997, 1st in Hellexpo-Sportexpo 2001. His handles on the

Internet Chess Club The Internet Chess Club (ICC) is a commercial Internet chess server devoted to the play and discussion of chess and chess variants. ICC had over 30,000 subscribing members in 2005. It was the first Internet chess server and was the largest p ...

are "E-Grivas" and "Gref".

Author

From 1982 on he successfully worked as a journalist in newspapers and magazines (in Greek and in English). Between January 1992 and September 1999 he was editor-in-chief and main contributor of the monthly magazine of the Greek Chess Federation, ''Greek Chess''. In 2010 he was awarded the Boleslavsky Medal (best author) for 2009. His latest books (2024) is a series called The Chess Instructor. They are a series of 18 books and are published in English.

Administrator and organizer

He was a founding member of the Association of Top Greek Chessplayers (1995) and has since been a member of its Policy Board (Executive Secretary 1996-1997 and Vice-President since 1998). From 1996 until 1999 he held the position of Greek Chess Federation Technical Advisor. Finally, he served as a member of FIDE's Players’ Council (1998–2002). He holds the titles of FIDE International Organizer (was a co-organizer of the 1999

European Youth Chess Championship The European Youth Chess Championship is organized by the European Chess Union (ECU) in groups under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years old. History The first tournament was held in 1991, and the under 8 category was introduced in 2007. Until 2002 t ...

s in Litochoro Pierias with more than 1000 participants) and FIDE

, titles that are awarded according to specific requirements and are not honorary.

Trainer

His work in this field includes more than 12000 hours of training in many clubs, especially with younger players. From 1986 to 1991 he was the Federal Trainer of the National Juniors Team. During the period 1989–1990 he was the Trainer of the DEI Macedonia-Thrace Chess Academy, while during 1996–1998 and 2002–2004 he held the same position in Pnevmatiki Stegi Peristeriou Chess Club and finally during 2002–2005 he worked with Koropi Sports & Chess Club as well. In 2001–2002 he worked as a professor at the Institute of Professional Education in Peristeri and as External Contributor with O.E.E.K. (Sports Department - Chess Trainer Faculty) while from 2001–2004 he also offered his chess services to the Military Officers’ Academy. In 2004 Grivas was awarded the title of

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

Senior Trainer.

Notable games

Efstratios Grivas vs Nigel Short, Ol. 1986, Queen's Gambit Declined: Tartakower Defense (D58), 1-0

Efstratios Grivas vs Vladimir Tukmakov, Kavala op 1991, Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation (E17), 1-0

Efstratios Grivas vs Zhaoqin Peng, Corus (Group C) 2008, Zukertort Opening: Queen Pawn Defense (A06), 1-0

Efstratios Grivas vs Arik Braun, Corus (Group C) 2008, Slav Defense: Breyer Variation (D11), 1-0

Books

* ''A Complete Guide to the Grivas Sicilian'' (2005,

Gambit Publications Gambit Publications is a major publisher of chess books. The company's headquarters is in London. It has published more than 200 chess books. The company was founded by three chess players. Grandmaster (GM) John Nunn is the chess director, G ...

; ) * ''Beating the Fianchetto Defences'' (2006, Gambit; ) * ''Chess College 1: Strategy'' (2006, Gambit; ) * ''Chess College 2: Pawn Play'' (2006, Gambit; ) * ''Chess College 3: Technique'' (2006, Gambit; ) * ''Modern Chess Planning'' (2007, Gambit; ) * ''Practical Endgame Play - mastering the basics'' (2008,

Everyman Chess Popular Chess, formerly known as Everyman Chess and Cadogan Chess, is a major publisher of books and CDs about chess. "Everyman" is a registered trademark of Random House and the company headquarters is in London. Former world chess champion Ga ...

; ) * The Chess Instructor – The Isolated Pawn by E. Grivas (2024, Chess-shop.gr, ) * The Chess Instructor – Majority & Minority by E. Grivas (2024, Chess-shop.gr, )

Openings

* ''Ispaniki Partida'' (in Greek, 1987, Kaissa Chess Center) * ''A Complete Guide to the Grivas Sicilian'' (2005, Gambit; ) * ''Beating the Fianchetto Defences'' (2006, Gambit; ) * ''SOS - Secrets of Opening Surprises 13'' (2011, Interchess BV (New In Chess; ) * ''Grivas Opening Laboratory - Volume 1'' (2019, Chess Evolution Kft; ) * ''Grivas Opening Laboratory - Volume 2'' (2020, Chess Evolution; ) * ''Grivas Opening Laboratory - Volume 3'' (2020, Chess Evolution; ) * ''Grivas Opening Laboratory - Volume 4'' (2020, Chess Evolution; ) * ''Grivas Opening Laboratory - Volume 5'' (2020, Chess Evolution; ) * ''Grivas Opening Laboratory - Volume 6'' (2021, Chess Evolution; ) * ''Grivas Opening Laboratory - Volume 7'' (2021, Chess Evolution; ) * ''The Modernized Grivas Sicilian'' (2022, Thinkers Publishing; ) * ''The Grivas Anti-Sicilian Bible'' (2022, Thinkers; )