Games Explorer

1. g4

Modified by  Chris 11 Jan '07 15:21

Grob's Attack

This is an unconventional chess opening where White immediately moves the king knight's pawn two squares ahead: 1.g4.

The opening takes its name from Swiss International Master Henry Grob (1904-1974) who analyzed it extensively and played hundreds of correspondence games with it. In Grob's newspaper column analyses of this opening, he referred to it as the Spike Opening, a name which still enjoys limited usage. Other early references used the name Ahlhausen's Opening, after Carl Ahlhausen (1835–1892) of Berlin, one of the first to play 1.g4. Ksawery Tartakower sometimes played this opening in simultaneous exhibitions and called it the Genoa or San Pier D'Arena Opening, after the city and suburb of Genoa where he first used it. In Czechoslovakia 1.g4 is called Fric's Opening, and in other parts of the world it is called Kolibri's Opening.

The Grob is generally considered inferior and is usually not employed in serious competition, although International Master Michael Basman and Grandmaster Spyridon Skembris are advocates. It does, however, have a certain surprise value and the average player is unlikely to know how to refute it and more likely to get overconfident and make mistakes. Moreover, the lack of theory along this line may negate the repertoire of an experienced opponent. Intuititive play by black can lead black into dangerous traps. Many of these traps rely on Black's replying with 1.... d5, attacking the pawn with his queen's bishop. After 2.Bg2 Bxg4!?, White has an attack after 3.c4 and eventually Qb3, an attack that may well be worth a pawn.

It is considered an irregular opening, so it is classified under the A00 code in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings.

Many Grob players enjoy the (self-)destructive nature of the opening. By immediately moving the g-pawn two squares ahead White is really saying: "I am going to rip apart the pawn structure in this game; first mine, then yours."

A key element of the Grob is deploying the king's bishop on g2 and having it rule the diagonal. In order to further this goal white must keep the center clear of pawns. This leads to frequent "tearing at the center" with c4 often being white's third move.

Due to the unusual pawn structure white attains by playing g4 and c4 so early in the game, there is frequently little advantage to castling. Play often devolves into a wild and wide-open game, with a definitive advantage usually resolving itself in the first 20 moves.

Perhaps the most interesting response for Black is the ultra-aggressive Romford Counter-Gambit, devised around 1980 by English player Nick Pelling: 1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 d4!? 4.Bxb7 Nd7 5.Bxa8 Qxa8 6.f3 d3! Black now has a long sequence of natural moves to develop and attack with (e6 / Ngf6 / Ne5 / Be7 / O-O), while White sits paralyzed on the back rank. Michael Basman proposed a similar gambit with 3. ... dxc4.

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