Although the Swiss IM Henry Grob (1904-1974) analyzed it extensively, it was also extensively analyzed by the infamous US ersatz master Claude F. Bloodgood III.
It’s surprising how befuddled some players with the black pieces get and succumb to an attack on the a8-h1 diagonal because they are moving without thinking and believe the opening is easily refuted. The fact is, it can be pretty tactical and it can be dangerous for both players! The tactically better player will often catch unsuspecting opponents.
Bloodgood wrote in the introduction to his book: "Grob's Attack is a basic gambit unlike anything else in modern chess theory. Every basic concept of development and piece placement must be discarded once 1. g4 has been played, and this applies to the player with black even more than to the player with white. Accepting the gambit pawn in the Grob is accepting immediate problems, but it has been my experience that players facing this for the first time are most likely to do just that."
You can access Bill Wall's 84-page booklet on the Grob Attack HERE, but you will need WinDjView installed in order to read it which you can download from Sourceforge HERE.
Here's a recent example of a thrill packed 10 minute internet game in which even after I wrongly gave up my Q there was enough play left in the position that with some help from my opponent I still managed to win.
Tartajubow - Guest
Result: 1-0
Site: Internet
Date: 2021.02
Grob Attack
[...] 1.g4 g6 This isn't as rare as you might think. It looks pretty solid and black makes no attempt at refutation. 2.♗g2 ♗g7
2...d6 3.♘c3 ♗g7 4.♘f3 e5 5.d4 e4 6.♘xe4 ♗xg4 7.h3 ♗f5 8.♘g3 ♗c8 9.e4 ♘f6 10.♗f4 O-O 11.O-O White has a slight advantage. tartajubow-maxime/Instantchess 2011
3.d4 No matter what you play, sooner or later your attention must turn to the center. 3...e6 Not really bad, but it just doesn't look right.
3...d6 4.c3 ♘c6 5.h3 e5 6.d5 ♘ce7 7.e4 f5 Black stands well. Janse,R (2200)-Karlsson,L (2427)/Sweden 2013
4.c4 ♘e7 5.♘c3 ♘bc6 6.♘f3 d5 7.c5 This probably isn't positionally correct, but I was thinking of possibly getting play on both sides. 7...b6 8.♕a4 Nothing comes of the pin on the N plus my Q isn't very well placed here so 8.cxb6 was better. 8...bxc5 9.dxc5 O-O Not bad, but white would have faced some development difficulties after 9...Rb8. 10.h4 OK, so the engines like 10.O-O, but this is the tactical Grob. Besides, there isn't that much difference in Komodo 12's score for this and the better 10.O-O. 10...f5 A conservative player would have chosen 10..Rb8. Instead black gets violent. Surprisingly, this isn't a top choice for either ShashChess or Komodo but once it appears on the board they don't fault it. 11.h5 Somewhat better was 11.gxf5, but I wanted to rip open the K-side. 11...fxg4 He is helping me out. The aforementioned ...Rb8 looks reasonable. 12.♕xg4 After his last move I have gotten my Q to a more active location although here all that can be said of the position is that the chances are equal. 12...♔f7 Instead of the solid 12...Qe8 black hits the panic button and is now exposed to a very strong attack. 13.hxg6+ ♘xg6
13...hxg6 was better. Then after 14.♖h7 ♖h8 15.♘g5+ ♔f8 16.♖xh8+ ♗xh8 17.♕f3+ ♘f5 18.e4 The complications favor white...provided he doesn't find a way to go wrong.
14.♖xh7 e5 (14...♕f6 no good. 15.♗g5)
14...♖h8 is no good. 15.♘g5+ ♔g8 16.♘xe6 ♖xh7 17.♕xg6 is winning for white.
15.♘g5+ ♔e8 Now I could have finished him off with 16.Ne6, but had an hallucination. 16.♖xg7 Oddly, after this black's advantage is only about a P.
16.♘e6 As it turns out this is pretty complicated and there is no guarantee I would have discovered the winning moves!! 16...♕f6 17.♘xd5 ♕xf2+ 18.♔d1 ♕g1+ 19.♔c2 ♘d4+ 20.♕xd4 This is the most forceful (!), but other move also win. 20...exd4 21.♘dxc7+ ♔d7 22.♖xg7+ ♘e7 23.♘xf8+ ♔d8 (23...♔xc7 24.♗f4+ winning.) 24.♘ce6+ ♗xe6 25.♘xe6+ ♔c8 26.♗b7+ ♔xb7 27.♖xg1
16...♗xg4 17.♖xg6 e4 After either 17...Nb4 or 17...Nd4 black's attack on c2 keeps the initiative and the advantage.
17...♘b4 18.♘h7 ♘c2+ 19.♔d1 ♗f5 20.♘xf8 ♗xg6 21.♘xg6 ♘xa1 22.♘xe5 It' messy, but black is technically better.
18.♖xc6 Black's abandonment of the N was apparently due to visions of goblins attacking d4. Now I have the advantage and black quickly collapses. 18...♕d7 19.♖h6 Here black can play 19...Bf5 and just hope for the best. 19...♕f5 Attacking f2 with hope in his heart. 20.♗e3 ♖d8 Trying to defend d5, but it is impossible! (20...♖b8 21.O-O-O) 21.♘e6 d4 22.♘g7+ Winning instantly...black resigned. Powered by Aquarium
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