Grivas: Underdeveloped Battery

Surprising Your Opponents with the Lazy Sicilian

In just 60 minutes, you will be well-equipped with a surprise weapon, which will take most of your opponents out of book right from the start.

Batteries generally refer to heavy pieces (rooks and queens) on an open or semi-open file, but (as mentioned above) the term also applies to long-range pieces that occupy the same diagonal.

Batteries are important because they put immense pressure on a file or diagonal, often with devastating results. It is particularly effective to form a battery using rooks because they may be combined to occupy the same rank or file. In theory, bishops may also form a battery in a case of underpromotion of a pawn to a bishop occupying the same diagonal as the other bishop. In actual games, however, the queen and rooks are often employed.

Batteries are often used as part of a combination which may involve other types of tactics as well. When the queen and a bishop are forming a battery, it is rather common to have the bishop on an open diagonal, supporting its queen. A rare case is the formation (battery) of a queen and bishop, when the bishop hasn't developed yet!

By this way, defensive or attacking purposes are fulfilled, and we will examine the why and how. Click on the notation or diagrams to follow the moves on a special replay board.

- Part two coming soon -

Efstratios Grivas

Efstratios Grivas was born in March 1966 in Egio, Achaia and grew up in Athens. His registration at the Kallithea Chess Club in 1979 was his first contact with chess. Two years later he won the Greek Cadet Championship. He was trained by IM Dr. Nikolai Minev (1981–1982), FM Michalis Kaloskambis (1984–1986), GM Efim Geller (1987–1988) and IM Nikolai Andrianov (1990–1996). Currently he is living and working in the UAE.

Here are the important stations of his chess career:

Titles Awarded: Grandmaster, FIDE Senior Trainer, FIDE Arbiter, FIDE Organiser.

Working Positions: Former Secretary of the FIDE (World Federation) Trainers' Commission (10 years), Secretary of the European Chess Union Training Commission, Director of the Grivas Chess International Academy (FIDE Academy), Former Director of the Sharjah International Chess Academy.

Achievements as a Player:

• Winner of Gold Medal in the European Team Championship 1989 (3rd Board).
• Winner of Silver Medal in the Olympiad 1998 (3rd Board).
• 4th Position World Junior Championship U.20 1985.
• Winner of five Balkan Medals (2 Gold - 1 Silver - 2 Bronze).
• Winner of the International 'Acropolis' Tournament (1983, 1986 & 1991). 
• Winner of Greek Individual & Team Championships (28 times!).
• Winner of United Arab Emirates Individual & Team Championships (3 times).
• Winner of various International Tournaments.

Achievements as Coach/Trainer/Captain:

• Winner of the FIDE Euwe Medal 2011 & 2012 & 2017 (world's best junior trainer).
• Winner of FIDE Award Boleslavsky Medal 2009 & 2015 (world's best author).
• Winner of the FIDE Razuvaev Medal 2014 (trainers' education).
• Professional Lecturer at FIDE Seminars for Training & Certifying Trainers (91 total).
• Author of 126 chess books!
• Creator of more than 20 Grandmasters and other various titled players (WGM, IM, WIM, FM).
• Worked with National Teams of Austria, Germany, Greece, Jordan, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, and Turkey.
• He has won more than 50 World's & Continental Youth Medals with his students.
• An opening variation has been added to his credit; it is called the 'Grivas Sicilian', characterised by the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6.
• In 2017 he led the World's Team U.17 as Captain & Coach in the match USA vs. The World (U.17 & U.14), which was won heavily by the World.

Video interview with Efstratios Grivas 

Master Class Vol. 12: Viswanathan Anand

This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors how to successfully organise your games strategically, and how to keep your opponent permanently under pressure.