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

Do we really need 6 hours to prove that 1.g4 is a bad move?

Only took me 30 seconds.

It's my opponent's job to destroy my king side. Do I have to do everything?!

Looks horrible.

One of the best reasons to learn Grob is to learn how to defend it. It's full of traps, and if an opponent hasn't seen it, he or she is open to make mistakes. This goes past the opening and leads into the mid game, when the strange pawn structure continues to confuse the opponent. From my experience, it causes both players to castle on the queen side. If black over pursues in the mid game, he or she is open to a surprise loss or combination. I've actually played a few games when I castled on the queen side and then brought the king all the way across the board during the midgame to assist in a surprise combination for the win. If you haven't tried it yet, I would recommend it. It's nothing worth mastering, but it's certainly worth trying.  

I couldn't agree more with ejsmith - don't knock the Grob til you've tried it a few times, but do just a bit of research as well before using it. Because he is right about the potential traps. Play your cards right and you will pick up more opposition Queen's rooks than you can shake a stick at, plus completely paralyze Black's K-side knight early in the game. However, play your cards wrong and the same or worse fate will await you in the jaws of the mighty Grob.

Indeed. I love the Grob. I don't play it as much as I used to, but I have always coveted it's straightforwardness. Heh. Blitz, to me, is the best time to wheel this out. Just like the BDG, experienced practitioners can rack up some points.

  It has some practical value. Not unlike the St. George or the 1. h3, black will either overdressed or play too passive. OTB is cool too. Online not soo much because of engines usage.

But overall, I am highly recommending studying this. No doubt.

When I play Grob as black I let white win the QR after 1.g4 ..d5  2.Bg2 ..Bxg4  3.c4, ..dxc4  Losing the exchange is worth it!  You have much more fun and many ways to attack.  White is gloating because he thinks he tricked you but when he realizes he has nothing but disorganization, it breaks his heart.

Brother, the man has not been on the site since 2013 lol.

Against the Grob, I've been playing simple 1. ... h5 (2.g5 e5)

It is probably fine OTB if your oppoent does not know you play it.

Will likely put your opponent in time troube by the time make middlegame

It one of those openings where you only find out how to beat it, once you go home after the match having been swindled in an unfamiliar position, despite being theoretically fine

There was a player here in Indiana who played this often, in the Indiana State Championships even. I think it's a garbage opening, but here is the thing. If you play with just about any opening long enough, work out the obvious replies, then you can win a lot of your games with a crap opening just because most people will be surprised and had not prepared against it. 

Yeah not only that, it peeves people off, as they have to spend evening playing someone elses stuff, and often being in that negative space they do not play at their best

I think that's actually it, you nailed it. You're sitting there, you've worked on all your openings, and you're pretty ready for anything, and they throw this crap on the board and you couldn't have been ready for it. You can't study everything, so you had to spend time on the important stuff. And what's more, what's really annoying, is that you know the opening is crap, but you know they've sat at their computer for probably weeks coming up with all the damned responses with Stockfish and you know, damned good and well, you're about to have a very difficult game, or lose, to this stupid opening. And they KNOW you think it's stupid, and they are counting on that very thing. It does kinda piss ya off really. 

Wow, this thread is old!

I see no reason to play the Grob over a more solid Benko's opening (1. g3). It doesn't do anything that 1. g3 does not, other than setting up a naive pawn march on the king side, easily refuted by strong counterplay at the center, while at the same time forcing white to spend time attending the defense of that ugly pawn, weakening the black squares irreparably and, overall, not doing anything useful. After

White doesn't have a good continuation and has to resort to passive defense to even have a chance at surviving this.

Grob probably could work in blitz/bullet games, where white can launch a caveman attack on the king side and black doesn't have enough time to come up with proper refuting moves - but in standard games, let alone in daily/correspondence games, the Grob might as well be called "Seppuku opening".  

 I know someone who used to play it in the British Correspondence champs, did fine with it. Before all you engine bunnies even existed

Is it connected with chess in any way? ))

The engine does not look so scared concerning 1.g4, evaluating it after 2 hours' thinking only as little as appr. -0.30 for White ... In any case that shouldn't be a kind of some really unplayable position

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAdMS8RzcVs