Training by GM & FST Efstratios Grivas
The aim of this series of lectures is to enable participants to teach young
and gifted players in schools and chess clubs, and to educate trainers and chess
teachers not only in their own countries but also on an international basis.

Successful chess trainer GM Efstratios Grivas

Training session in the ChessBase office with young talents from Germany

The program for the day, projected on the screen
Building a Repertoire
By GM Efstratios Grivas
The theory of the middlegame and the endgame (see next chapter) is essential
in the struggle for victory. However, just as important is our theoretical preparation
in the opening, so as to lay solid and sound foundations on which to build with
our knowledge of the stages that follow.
In contrast to the middlegame and the endgame, where theory is objective and
accepted by everyone, in the opening each chess player makes his choices in
accordance with his emotions and his personal experience. No opening
loses, no opening wins.
All other viewpoints on the openings are pointless and harmless to the progress
of a chess player. Opening knowledge is important and essential, but it cannot
constitute the panacea of chess education, nor can we possibly demand to win
solely thanks to this knowledge.
Selection of a chess player’s openings is a purely personal matter. It is his
duty to study in depth and comprehend topics such as the correct move orders,
the ideas behind these moves and the plans to be employed in the middlegame.
One great paradox is common among young chess players (and not only them).
This phenomenon is called ‘fear of the opponent’s preparation’ and is expressed
by a disproportionate appreciation of his own abilities with regard to the openings
he has chosen. In simple words, the concept of ‘falling into the opponent’s
preparation’, a concept that is so commonly encountered on a young chess player’s
lips, is nothing other than a deeply hidden insecurity regarding the mediocre
or even weak understanding of the chosen openings.
A chess player that has studied and understood the openings he has chosen cannot
possibly be afraid of his opponents in this particular field. How is it possible,
after having gained so much experience and played a specific opening so many
times, to be afraid that his opponent will prove more ‘informed’ or more competent
than him? It would practically amount to ‘suicide’ for our opponent to enter
an opening that we have mastered when he doesn’t possess analogous experience.
Naturally, there are occasions when the opponent’s preparation can prove deadly.
It is possible even to lose games due to a specific opening discovery by the
opponent; this has happened before and will surely happen again. We can however
learn from our defeat and delve even deeper in our chosen openings.
Choosing which openings ‘suit us’ is a tricky process. Every chess player will,
during his competitive career, change several of his openings or variations
within them. Personal experience, difficult situations, alterations in his personality
will to a great extent determine these changes, that are considered natural
and desirable in his quest for his general progress.
The charts that follow offer a general overview of the desirable ‘repertoire
tree’ that a chess player must have:
If the chess player opens the game with 1.e4, he must prepare (make a selection)
in the following openings:
White 1.e4 |
Preparation (selection)
in: |
Alekhine Defence |
Caro-Kann Defence |
French Defence |
Italian Game |
King’s Gambit |
Modern Defence |
Petroff Defence |
Pirc Defence |
Ruy Lopez |
Scandinavian Defence |
Scotch Game |
Sicilian Defence |
Vienna Game |
Various other replies |
If the chess player opens the game with 1.d4, 1.c4 or 1.Nf3, then he must
prepare in the following openings:
White 1.d4/1.c4/1.Nf3 |
Preparation (selection)
in: |
Benoni Defence |
Catalan Opening |
Dutch Defence |
English Opening |
Grunfeld Defence |
King’s Indian Defence |
Nimzo-Indian Defence |
Old Indian Defence |
Queen’s Gambit Accepted |
Queen’s Gambit Declined |
Queen’s Indian Defence |
Queen’s Pawn Game |
Slav Defence |
Tarrasch Defence |
Various other replies |
Naturally, preparation must continue with the black pieces as well. Against
1.e4 the chess player must select one or more openings among:
Black 1.e4 |
Preparation (selection)
in: |
Alekhine Defence |
Caro-Kann Defence |
French Defence |
Italian Game |
King’s Gambit |
Modern Defence |
Petroff Defence |
Pirc Defence |
Ruy Lopez |
Scandinavian Defence |
Scotch Game |
Sicilian Defence |
Vienna Game |
Various other replies |
Likewise, against 1.d4, 1.c4 or 1.Nf3 he must select his opening(s) among:
Black 1.d4/1.c4/1.Nf3 |
Preparation (selection)
in: |
Benoni Defence |
Catalan Opening |
Dutch Defence |
English Opening |
Grunfeld Defence |
King’s Indian Defence |
Nimzo-Indian Defence |
Old Indian Defence |
Queen’s Gambit Accepted |
Queen’s Gambit Declined |
Queen’s Indian Defence |
Queen’s Pawn Game |
Slav Defence |
Tarrasch Defence |
Various other replies |
Openings, unlike the middlegame and the endgame, demand perpetual study, refreshment
and proper information.
Of course, the role of the experienced trainer is always in need. His/her knowledge
would allow us to build a more or less acceptable repertoire and avoid losing
precious time asking ourselves what is good and what is bad for us. A potentially
very strong chess-player clearly understands why it is important to save time…
It must be noted that the chapters on Physical and Psychological Factors,
Getting to Know Ourselves, Building a Repertoire and Middlegame &
Endgame Theory, were first published in my series ‘Chess
College’ (Gambit 2006). In this book they are re-published with some
additional notes which came ‘naturally’ from questions raised by trainers at
various seminars I conducted over the world behalf of FIDE & TRG.

FM Hagen Poetsch, 19, is rated 2408. Jonas Lampert is 13 and rated
2127

IM Elisabeth Pähtz, 26, the highest ranked female player in Germany
Grivas lecture series
Efstratios Grivas
Efstratios Grivas is a grandmaster and highly experienced chess trainer
and chess author.
e lives in Athens, and he is also a FIDE Senior Trainer (Secretary of
the FIDE Trainers' Commission), an International FIDE Chess Arbiter and
an International FIDE Chess Organizer. He has represented his country
on a great many occasions, winning the fourth position in the World Junior
Championship 1985, an individual gold medal at the 1989 European Team
Championship and an individual silver medal at the 1998 Olympiad.
In 2010 he was awarded the worldwide highly important FIDE TRG Awards
– the Boleslavsky Medal (best author) for 2009. |
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Training DVDs by Efstratios Grivas

Chess Expertise Step by Step Vols. 1 and 2. Click for more informantion