1. g4 the Grob

I used to play the Grob 1.g4 over 30 years ago. Recen

tly I used it in a blitz game
against Lloyd Kawamura (2350-2400+) because he always plays g6 against whatever
opening I played against him. I decided to play my Grobs Attack and I did win an easy
game against him which ended in the early middlegame. However I do not have the
score for that game.

Listed below are some of my previous Grob Attack games. I recommend playing it
to develop your tactical skill and to learn about pawn structure weaknesses in the
opening. I used to change my total opening repertoire every 6 months to keep
my tournament opponents from preparing adequately for me. For a time I was
also playing the Orangutan 1.b4 but in that opening I played double fianchetto
system and played it like a reversed Sicilian Defense.

Best Regards
DarthMusashi

I've been developing a repertoire with The Grob using the very strong, sacraficial chess engine called Houdini. So far it has been very impressive with ample opportunities for sacrafice. It's a blast to play. First, it applies direct considerable pressure against the opponents center when playing "The Spike" variation. Often they will sit their for minutes perplexed while time ticks off their clock. So, there's the time advantage. Next, if your opponent doesn't play correctly they usually will be crushed in under 20 moves. I have numerous saved victories with it. This opening would be devastating at tournament level play, especially in the C, D sections. Yes, a master can hold their own against it, but will most likely suffer some time disadvantage. Something to note, with the dawning of new and powerful chess engines for tutoring, there is no dubious openings any more. Virtually anything is playable.

Some GM's are using the Grobs Attack, but this is mostly against lower ranked opponents where their tactical skill makes a big difference. There is a huge gulf
between a master and a GM. Many years ago 2 of our best players and National
Masters were working on a chess problem and spent more than one day on the chess position and still could not solve the chess problem. And along comes GM Stefan Djuric and he solves the problem in seconds. Djuric is only a low level GM.
Can you imagine how strong the top level GMs are?

Best Regards
DarthMusashi

By the way, you might find it interesting to learn that GM Nunn lost to the Grob. Weird, huh?

Sound, unsound - suggestions on good responses to this opening please?

7.Qxc6 is a  blunder . 7.Rc8  and white is losing his queen

I'm not sure whether taking on g4 is so bad. Common sense like Lasker said is the best weapon against those openings. I was once confronted in a team match with the Grob. I didn't knew any theory about the grob and played the following moves.

My first thought was: Why not take on g4? I took and I soon realize what my opponent plan was. It's similar to the Slav defense where in one line white can exploit a premature movement of black's light squared bishop to f5 by taking on d5 followed by Qb3 hitting the b7 and d5. Since I knew this motif with Qb3 in the Slav it wasn't difficult to see what would happen after I would recapture on d5.

So I came up after a some thinking with c6 with the idea of giving the pawn back and develop my pieces. He played Qb3 but then I played Qc7 and got a pretty comfortable position. I developed my pieces normally and later the weakness of his kingside due to the absence of the g pawn proved to be fatal.

I don't know whether I missed something but I think black is fine after taking on g4. I think protecting g4 with h3 is the best option for white. But my basic chess undestanding says me that this can't be a position that causes a lot of trouble for black.

BTW: I discovered a crazy line mentioned by IM Sielecki (youtube: chessexplained):

That's absolutely crazy but that's some interesting compensation here. But requires accurate play. So taking on g4 isn't that bad

any body know how to counter this opening?!!

my school is practicing this opening and if i am black then i am dead

please tell me the counter of this opening

umm

so after G4 we do D5 and take the pawn with the bishop???

that is the start of the opening

ill move pawn to D4 when white threat to take the pawn on D3

because also queen B3 wotn work anymore and we can built safety for the rook

then the moves next are just develop ur pieces

the first counter moves are chasing after the queen with all ur minor pieces

forcing white to move the queen back