Coach’s Corner: Efstratios Grivas
Efstratios Grivas was 13 years old when he learned to play chess. A few weeks later, he entered his first competition, a round-robin youth tournament at the Kallithea Chess Club.
Thirteen games later, he had suffered thirteen crushing defeats.
Young Grivas’ blunders earned him the nickname of “Friendliest Opponent”, a tongue-in-cheek honor that spoke about how thrilled his competition was to play against him.
What he didn’t know at the time is that a respected Greek trainer visited the club during the tournament. When asked if he could spot any promising player, the visitor shook his head. “I don’t know who might become a good chess player,” he reportedly said.
“But I know who definitely won’t,” added the trainer pointing out Grivas' name in the scoreboard.
As fate would have it, just four years after that uninspired debut, Grivas would win the Greek Under-20 Championship. His rapid ascent didn’t stop there. By the age of 18, he had attained the International Master title and was listed among FIDE’s top 10 Juniors.
Years later, Grivas would end up becoming the only grandmaster among the players in his first tournament. Flash forward to today and his impact on the chess world actually extends beyond his personal achievements as a player.
Grivas has emerged as one of the most influential trainers and dedicated chess educators. From training the national teams of Greece, Turkey, UAE and Sri Lanka, to mentoring future grandmasters and world champions, he is building a legacy rooted in hard work and a commitment to excellence.
Known for his candid, no-nonsense views on chess improvement and teaching methods, GM Grivas shares his insights with Chessable in this interview:
What is your chess coaching philosophy?
I believe in two basic rules:
1. The preponderance of psychological evidence indicates that experts are made, not born.
2. The 10-year rule states that it takes approximately a decade of heavy labour to master any field.
My personal view is that the word ‘talent’ is the excuse of the failed, so a lot of quality and hard work should be on the cards, in a very limited period. And the only thing that could prove the failure or the success of any program is results!
Suppose a player has only 3 hours a week for chess training. How should they spend their time?
The work must be done in five main subjects: Opening-Middlegame-Endgame-Planning-Tactics. Three hours is relatively little, but I would say to divide this time as above, in equal parts.
What is the biggest factor for improvement for players under 1200 (Chess.com)? Under 2000?
Tactics, because they barely understand strategy. But, if they want to go over 2000, then strategy is required.
What is your preferred way to improve at openings? What's the approach to chess openings that you try to teach your students?
I talk with my students to understand their preferences and then I prepare an entire opening repertoire for them to study at home by themselves. In addition, I continuously help.
What is your preferred way to improve at the endgame?
My complete work, ‘Encyclopaedia of Endgame’, is coming soon to Chessable, in cooperation with Women’s World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova!
Chessable Courses
Efstratios Grivas has published five Chessable courses to date. Four of these courses were collaborations with other world-class coaches:
Endgame Expertise: Rook Endgames, with GM Ivan Sokolov.
The Strategy Instructors series, a joint effort with GM Ramesh R. B. that covered strategic topics such as Pawn Majority & Minority, Open Files, Semi-Open Files & Forepost, and The Exchange Sacrifice.
Recently, Grivas launched the fourth part of this series, The Strategy Instructors Volume 4: The Isolated Pawn, which is on introductory sale until July 21, 2025. Check it out!
Visit his Chessable author page!
