What Is The Grob Opening?

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Is The Grob Opening Good?

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Who Was The Grob Opening Named After?

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How To Learn The Grob Opening?

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Have Some Fun With The Grob Opening

One of the wonderful things about chess is the diverse range of ways that it can be played and the Grob Opening is definitely an unusual way.

You can follow the masses and play the same openings as everybody else.
Or, you can take the game into relatively unexplored territory - as early as move one, if you like!

The decision is up to you.

The Grob Opening (also known as Grob’s Attack) is definitely an opening which fits into the latter category - a maverick wing pawn opening with a murky reputation.

In this opening, White thrusts forward with 1. g4. In so doing, White breaks almost every opening dictum in the book.

It doesn’t fight for the center.
It weakens the pawn structure on the kingside.
It doesn’t optimally contribute to further piece development.

Grob Opening - Starting Position — The starting position of the Grob Opening (**1. g4**) - also known as Grob’s Attack.

It is a shocking move. You won’t see elite chess players play the Grob Opening in tournaments where the result is important. For chess professionals, there is simply too much at stake to begin the game with an objectively inferior opening.

However, if you are reading this, it is likely that you play chess for fun. This means your hands are untied, and you can play whatever opening you like - even if it is not “objectively” the best.

The Grob Opening / Grob’s Attack is named after a Henri Grob, a Swiss chess master who was most active in the mid-20th century. Grob was the Swiss national chess champion on two occasions, but it was in correspondence chess that he really left a mark on the game: he played over 3,000 games against readers of the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, often starting with his eponymous opening. He even wrote a book dedicated to 1. g4, Grob’s Angriff (English: “Grob’s Attack”).

Grob's Angriff - book cover — *The cover of Henri Grob’s original book on* ***1. g4****: “Grob’s Angriff” (in German).*

Why Play The Grob Opening?

White has 20 possible ways to begin the game on move one. According to the lichess.org opening explorer, the Grob Opening is not one of the top 10 moves - either among masters, or among the general public playing on their site.

The Grob Opening is rare - and it is rare for good reason. After all, if it were a strong chess opening for White, then it would be more common than it is!

If you are looking for the “best” opening options, then this article isn’t for you. Instead, you may want to check out our articles on more mainstream chess openings for White such as the Reti Opening or the Ruy Lopez.

With all that said, why play the Grob Opening?

For one thing, the Grob Opening will surely surprise your opponents. Because the Grob Opening is not considered a “serious” option for White, your opponents with the Black pieces are unlikely to have spent much time preparing for it. This means that if you study the opening, you stand a high chance of gaining a practical advantage by taking the game in a direction that you know better than your opponents.

Another reason to play the Grob Opening is because it contains several traps for your unwary opponents to fall into. We will cover some of these later in this article. Perhaps you enjoy the prospect of landing a sucker punch early in the game. If so, the Grob Opening could be right up your alley!

Finally, you may like to play the opening as a self-handicap against a weaker player. Perhaps you have a friend who you like to play chess with - but the results are rather one-sided in your favor. To keep the games interesting, why not try beginning the game with a dubious opening, and see if you can still win?

The Grob Opening: Thematic Tactics

One of the ways the Grob Opening compensates for its objective defects is with a number of tricky traps that allow White to win the game on the spot, if Black is careless.

Here are a few to get you started.

Bishop’s Attack Against b7

One of the most natural ways for Black to respond to 1. g4 is with 1. …d5 - taking space in the center and opening up the light-squared bishop to threaten the White pawn on g4.

Grob Opening - setup position 1 — *The Grob Opening after* ***1. …d5****. White’s pawn on* g4 *is attacked by Black’s light-squared bishop.*

The “spirit” of the Grob Opening is for White to ignore this threat, and instead play 2. Bg2, allowing Black to capture on g4 - which they will often do, with 2. …Bxg4. For the time being, Black is a pawn up.

White’s next move should be 3. c4, where Black has their first opportunity to go seriously wrong. If Black is inattentive, they may grab a second pawn with 3. …dxc4?? - but this allows White to make a decisive capture of their own: 4. Bxb7! After this, the Black rook on a8 is trapped.

Grob Opening - tactic 1 — *A common position in the Grob Opening after three moves. Black may blunder with **3. …dxc4??**, whereupon **4. Bxb7!** wins the rook in the corner for White.*

Threats With Qb3

Of course, stronger players are unlikely to fall for such a basic trap. Black may instead defend their central pawn on d5 with a sensible-looking move such as 3. …e6.

In this case, White can play a thematic maneuver in the Grob Opening: 4. Qb3.

Grob Opening - setup position 2 — Another typical position in the Grob Opening, after **3. …e6** and **4. Qb3**. Note that Black’s pawn on b7 is under attack.

Black is again put to a decision: how to deal with White’s pressure against b7? Black may react to the threat directly with 4. …b6? - blocking the queen. However, this allows White to capture twice on d5 and reveal the severe problems Black has created on their light squares.

Grob Opening - tactic 2 — After **4. …b6? 5. cxd4 exd4 6. Bxd5.** White has a double attack against f7 and the rook on a8.

Here, Black’s only move to avoid losing on the spot is 6. …Be6 - but even so, White wins another pawn (to go with a better position) after 7. Bxe6 fxe6 8. Qxe6+. The Opening has definitely been a success for White if the game plays out this way!

Another Trick With The Queen

An alternative line sees Black defend their pawn on d5 with 3. …c6 instead. After captures on d5 and the thematic move Qb3, the following position may be reached, where White threatens the d5 pawn twice - with Black to move.

Grob Opening - setup position 3 — A position from a game beginning with the Grob Opening. Black’s pawn on d5 is attacked by both the White queen and bishop. How should Black defend the threat?

One very natural way for Black to defend their pawn on d5 is with 5. …e6?? - but this runs into a check from White’s queen that drops a piece: 6. Qa4+!

Grob Opening - tactic 3 — Black has just blundered with 5. …e6?? and now White can now fork the Black king and light-squared bishop with **6. Qa4+!**

Getting Started With The Grob Opening

If you take the time to study The Grob Opening, there is a very good chance you will know it better than your opponents. Remember, when playing the Opening with White, you are effectively relying on this surprise value, because - as we have already said - objectively speaking, the Grob Opening is not the best choice to begin the game with.

If you want to continue your education and become a Grob’s Opening “expert”, then we recommend the book Basman’s Folly: Embracing Chaos with 1. g4!?, available from the USCF store.

This book has everything you need to know about the Grob Opening. Once you have studied it, you will surely know the Grob Opening better than almost any opponent you are likely to encounter!

Summary: Is The Grob Opening Right For You?

The Grob Opening can be a worthy surprise weapon in your White opening repertoire if you:

Like to take your opponents into unfamiliar territory: One feature of playing the Opening is getting unusual positions out of the opening. Due to the dearth of opening theory in this opening, both players will need to have wits about them - being unable to rely on memorized opening knowledge.
Enjoy springing opening traps: As we have seen, White can win very quickly in the Grob Opening if Black falls for one of the opening traps.
Thrive in unbalanced positions: Games in the Grob Opening tend to be wilder than those which begin with more mainstream openings. You should be confident in your tactical skills - because opportunities to land decisive blows may very well arise early in the game!

Does that sound like the kind of chess opening for White you would enjoy?

If so, then have some fun with the Grob Opening today!

Frequently Asked Questions

The Grob Opening is a chess opening where White begins with 1. g4. This unusual move is almost never played among top level chess players. However, it does contain several opening traps which can gain an advantage for White against an unprepared opponent.

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