Openings · A00

Grob's Attack

1.g4 — the most committal first move that gets played by people who win with it, and the one that most needs a reason.

1.g4played as White

Play it through on the board below, and 6 moves into the main line.

Practise the line

You play White; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded. The line runs on past the moves that define the opening and into the main line, because two moves is not a drill.

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Your move 1 of 40/4
  1. 1.g4d5
  2. 2.Bg2c6
  3. 3.h3e5
  4. 4.d4

Your move. Drag a piece, or tap it and then its square.

The idea

The pawn takes f5 and h5, and after Bg2 the bishop hits d5 through the hole the pawn left. The theory that exists is sharp and short: 1…d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4! is the point, hitting d5 while the bishop is off the queenside.

It does not lose by force, but it is not free either: the engine already rates Black about a pawn better after 1…d5, the squares round White's king are permanently soft, and the opening's value is surprise. Played twice against the same opponent, it is a weakened kingside and nothing else.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

Chasing the pawn back

After 5.Qb3
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
The mistake
Answering 2…Bxg4 with 3.h3, trying to win the pawn back at once.
Why it costs
The pawn was never the point. 3.c4 attacks d5 immediately and, after the trade, Qb3 hits b7 and d5 together while Black's bishop is on the wrong side of the board. A move spent on h3 gives Black time to defend both.
Instead
3.c4, every time. The gambit pawn buys tempo against the centre; taking it back is what the opponent wants.

Castling short

After 7.O-O
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
The mistake
Castling into the hole that the first move made.
Why it costs
The king ends up on an open or half-open g-file with h3 and f3 permanently soft and no pawn able to cover them again. The one structural fact about this opening is where the king should not go.
Instead
Castle queenside, or leave the king in the middle behind d3 and e3 and play on the queenside. The kingside is where the opening spent its capital.

Playing c4 into a pawn on c6

After 3…e5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
The mistake
Playing the standard 3.c4 after Black has already answered 2…c6.
Why it costs
…c6 is the point of the whole defence: d5 is held by a pawn, so 3.c4 has nothing to hit, and …e5 next gives Black the centre against a player who has weakened both wings in three moves.
Instead
3.h3 and d4, or 3.g5 with a slow game. Against a prepared opponent the Grob needs a plan; against an unprepared one it needs about four moves.

What the engine says

After 1.g4, these are Black's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing Black's chance of winning.

  1. d5-1.1
  2. e5-0.9
  3. Nc6-0.7
  4. h5-0.6
  5. c5-0.6
  6. e6-0.5

The engine's main line from d5: d5 Bg2 Nc6 c4 d4 Bxc6+ bxc6 Qa4.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

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