On the March 2011 FIDE list, Prié has an Elo rating of 2508, ranking 737th in the world and 26th in France.
Chess Activities
In the French Chess Federation
Prié is an FFE trainer and teacher to trainers.[1] He was the national technical director of the French federation from September 1998 to October 2001, then national trainer to the young players until July 2005. As such, he was one of the trainers of Étienne Bacrot, Laurent Fressinet,[2]Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Marie Sebag.
Blindfold Play
Prié is considered France's top blindfold player.[3][4] He gave many simultaneous exhibitions without seeing the board, against up to 16 opponents.
Verses
Prié wrote several texts in verses,[5] some of which related to chess, such as those dedicated to the young French player Jules Moussard[6] and the former president of the French Chess Federation, Jean-Claude Loubatière.[7]
The Prié Attack
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The Prié Attack
Prié gave his name to an opening, the Prié Attack (ECO D00, Closed Game) : 1.d4 d5 2.a3 (diagram). He explained[8] that this move prevents Black from playing the useful move Bb4 and, in some variations, prepares the b2-b4 pawn advance. The latter idea is akin to playing a Slav Defense, Chebanenko Variation (also called Chameleon Variation), with reversed colors. Other move orders transpose into this system, e.g. 1.d4 e6 2.a3 d5.
This opening addresses the problem of excessive theoretical preparation among high-level chess players by playing a sane but unusual system, which forces Black to think from the start of the game instead of reciting moves learnt by heart. Prié reached that goal by successfully playing his opening against amateurs, but also against titled players.
Black now has an isolated central pawn, but he cannot use the c and e columns. Moreover, White can efficiently blockade this pawn, which is thus a weakness for Black.
