Grob Opening

The Grob Opening pushes the g-pawn two squares on the first move. This gains kingside space, prepares Bg2, and makes ...Nf6 awkward because g5 would kick the knight. The price is high. The pawn on g4 is hard to defend, the dark squares around h4 and f4 are weakened, and castling short becomes unappealing. Theory ranks it among White's poorest first moves, and the engine gives Black a clear advantage. The opening is named after the Swiss International Master Henri Grob, who analyzed it extensively and used it in hundreds of correspondence games. He called it the Spike Opening. Older sources call it Ahlhausen's Opening, and Tartakower tried it in simultaneous displays.

White generally follows one of three plans. The first is to shore up the g-pawn with h3. The second is to turn the g2-bishop against d5 and b7, often by striking with c4 to keep the long diagonal clear of central pawns. The third is to throw the h-pawn forward. Because White's king has little shelter on either wing, games tend to open quickly and are often decided early.

The most common reply is 1...d5, which threatens ...Bxg4. The Grob Gambit, 2. Bg2, allows that capture. After 2...Bxg4 3. c4, White follows with Qb3 to hit b7 and d5, and Black can counter with the Romford Countergambit, 3...d4. Black can also decline the pawn with 2...c6, and 3. g5 then gives the Spike Attack. If White keeps the pawn with 2. h3, Black can reply with the Keene Defense, 2...e5 3. Bg2 c6, which aims for ...e4 to blunt the bishop. Richard Palliser prefers a classical ...Nc6 in place of ...c6. The Zilbermints Gambit, 2. e4 dxe4 3. Nc3, is a further sideline.

The second choice, 1...e5, targets the weakened h4-square. One route is 2. Bg2 d5 3. c4, the Hurst Attack. Another is 2. h3 Nc6, the London Defense. Black can also play ...h5 against the bishop, or ...Ne7 followed by ...Ng6 to aim at f4 and h4. Rarer replies include 1...e6 and the sound 1...c5. More eccentric are the Double Grob, 1...g5, and the Alessi Gambit, 1...f5, after which Black scores poorly.

In practice the Grob's reputation and its results diverge. On Lichess White scores slightly better than Black from the starting position. Its surprise value and thin theory appeal to specialists, and its best-known advocates are Michael Basman, an International Master, and the grandmaster Spyridon Skembris. Basman used it to beat John Nunn in 1978. Stronger evidence points the other way: in the 2018 TCEC superfinal both Stockfish and Komodo assessed the position as clearly better for Black, and neither could hold it as White.