The Grob's Attack, and Why We Don't Play it More???

i'll try it out here...

Well, at least there is one GM that plays the Grob, so it must be somewhat playable.

Spyridon Skembris

1 g4 is bad. Most first moves are not actually bad, but this one is. It weakens the kingside quite a bit considering the g4 pawn is weak and if it goes to g5 more weaknesses are created. Yeah, you could try to castle queenside, but why not just play a3 and b4 then? Going queenside will take awhile to do and the king could get caught in the center, or black simplt takes the center, goes kingside, and probably has better opposite wing chances because of his center. With that said, that doesn't mean the suprise value at amateur level is meaningless, as a confusing opening like this is very hard for an amateur to play very accurately against.

what exactly is the point of g4? It seems to weaken the kinside. Sure you can castle queenside like elubas said "Going queenside will take awhile to do and the king could get caught in the center" also whats stopping black from doing the same? Why not jut play the the shirov-shabalov gambit? It offers nice chances.

I agree with what is said here. if its mainly for the surprise, why not play a good surprise? there are thousands of them out there... and many are sound, just not "in style" by higher rated players etc.

Thanks for all of the notes.

I have slowly been converting from the Grob to a Polish, as the latter has a little more give (the kingside is not compromised). Still, I have had great success with the Grob and do still employ it.

Any more notes???

Did my opening theory help with that success?

Um, no...

Although, I am starting to compound you ideas with mine, I haven't played the opening since starting this forum (I have a weird way of doing that)

Maybe we should start writing a book on the Grob's Attack.

Leave a note conquiscador and we will start talking.

I'm sure we'd all be rushing out to buy it... 

You should...

Because if you don't, you will probably end up losing to someone who read it.

I've found that in games between players below 1600 (USCF - that's probably like 1800 here), the person who knows the opening better has the opening advantage, regardless of whether or not the opening is actually any good. I used to play the Englund Gambit (1. d4 e5?!) as black just to throw my opponents off, and I never lost with it against opponents below 1600. When I started playing guys 1800+ with it, they clobbered me without breaking a sweat, so I had to switch to something sounder. I'm sure the same applies to the Grob.

--Fromper

I am excited to see what you have come up with for the theory.

as interesting as this discussion is, can you really beat a player below 1600? for example, a 1580?

Yeah, I have combined some MCO 15 with some new ideas

Here is just one...

this can make you win?

A single queen on g3 is kingside pressure? White needs alot more pieces out and fast for it to be worth a pawn.

I prefer the move order 1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 c6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Qb3

In your line, I think you should play 1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 c6 4.Qb3 Qb6 5.Qxb6 axb6 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Bxd5 winning back the pawn and shattering black's queenside.

I agree, I have found my ananlysis to come up a little dry in spots.

Maybe to differ even further, 4.Qa5 looks interesting.

I would not play 4.Qa4.  In the Grob opening, especially in the Bxg4 variation, the queen is strongest at b3 as it attacks b7 and d5.  Anyways you can save Qa4 for later.  For example:

1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 c6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 e6? 6.Qa4+! Nd7 7.Qxg4

This is a trap in these lines.

Why don't we play it any more, maybe because we never did. There is nothing positive the Grob achieves that will not be achieved by Benko opening, which however does not weaken the king's position, avoids pawn weaknesses and does not lag behind as much in development.