Monday, May 15, 2023

Grob’s Defense

     Everybody has heard of the Grob Attack, 1.g4!! It’s is widely condemned by the experts, but I have long played it with a modicum of success since way back in the days of chess played by post card. But then I wasn’t playing the “experts” so perhaps that’s why it frequently brought success. 
     On the other side of the board there is the Grob Defense which begins 1.e4 g5, but if the Grob Attack is really bad then it stands to reason that the Grob Defense must be even worse. 
     Sometimes it’s also called the Borg Defense because that’s Grob spelled backwards. It’s also known as the Basman Defense, after British IM Michael Basman. 
     The move weakens the K-side severely, but according to Modern Chess Openings (MCO), black is only somewhat worse. 
     These days whenever I feel like a a couple of quick games Chess Hotel is my site of choice. You can create a free account or you can sign in anonymously as a Guest or you can sign in with a screen name, They have a wide variety of time limits and ratings are meaningless because it gets reset when you sign out, Most of your opponents will not be particularly strong and engine users are pretty rare. On the downside, it’s not unusual for players who get a bad game to simply abandon the game; after they do, you are awarded the win. Also, occasionally there will be a childish opponent who likes to bombard you with profanity and name calling. The funny thing is that when you ignore them it seems to infuriate them even more! 
     The Grob Defense is fun to play and can lead to some unusual positions. If you are interested in playing over some games with the this defense to see some of the possibilities you can refer to Chess Tempo HERE

. A game that I liked (Fritz 17)

[Event "Chess Hotel"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Guest"] [Black "Tartajubow"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B00"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"] [PlyCount "30"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {Grob's Defense} 1. e4 g5 2. h4 {Odd, but not really bad according to the engines!} (2. d3 {This is not an attempt to refute 1...g5} h6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. g3 d6 5. Bg2 c5 6. Nge2 Nf6 7. O-O Nc6 {and the players agreed to a draw in Zelcic,R (2540)-Palac,M (2545) Pula 1998}) (2. d4 {This is the almost universal response because it attacks the g-Pawn.} h6 3. h4 g4 4. Nc3 d6 5. Be3 Bg7 6. Qd2 c6 7. O-O-O b5 8. f3 h5 {White is better, but eventually lety his advantage slip away and lost. Sadhwani,R (2611)-Nakamura,H (2768) chess.com INT 2022}) 2... gxh4 (2... g4 3. Qxg4 d5 4. Qd1 dxe4 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. d3 exd3 7. Bxd3 Nc6 8. Bg5 Bg7 {with equl chances. Narayanan,S (2669)-Vovk,O (2315) chess. com INT 2023}) 3. f4 {This looks to be a P move on the wrong side of the e-Pawn...it slightly weakens the K's position. Better was 3.d4} (3. d4 d5 4. exd5 Bg7 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bc4 {is the engine's way and white is clearly better.}) 3... Nc6 4. Nf3 (4. Nc3 {Hinders black's nerxt move and so it is just a bit better.} h5 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. e5 Ng4 7. d4 d5 {is quite interesting and the chances are about equal.}) 4... d5 {Sooner or later black must make a jab at the center.} 5. exd5 (5. e5 {does not work out so well after} Bg4 6. d4 e6 { and black can claim a slight advantage.}) (5. Nc3 {and black can polay either 5...d4 or...} dxe4 6. Nxe4 Nf6 {A move only an engine could love because after} 7. Nxf6+ exf6 8. Bb5 Qd6 9. Qe2+ Be7 {Stockfish evalautes the position as just slightly in black's favor. On the other hand, Komodo 14 thinks the position is equal.}) 5... Qxd5 6. Nc3 Qe6+ {Questionable as it badly hinders black's development. Better was 6...Qa5 with equal chances.} 7. Be2 {After this black gets the advantage.} (7. Qe2 {remains equal.} Qg6 (7... Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Bd7 9. Rxh4 O-O-O {is also equal.}) 8. Rxh4 Nf6 9. d4 Qg3+ 10. Qf2 {is just one example line. There are many other reasonable possibilities.}) 7... Qg4 { Attacking g2, but 7...Qg6 does the same thing plus it also puts pressure on c2. } 8. O-O {Placing his K opposite the black Q is a mistake. Best was 8.Kf1} (8. Kf1 Nf6 9. Rxh4 Qg6 10. Ne5 (10. Nb5 Rg8 11. Rh2 Kd8 {black is slightly better. }) 10... Nxe5 11. fxe5 Qf5+ 12. Bf3 Qxe5 {An unusuak position to be sure, but thelchances are about equal.}) 8... h3 (8... Qxf4 {allows white to gain the upper hand after} 9. d4 Qg3 10. Ne4 $14) 9. Rf2 Qxf4 {[%mdl 8192] This was wrong last move and it's wrong this move!} (9... Nf6 {and all is fine.} 10. d4 Qg3 {Black has good chances against white's weakened King 's position.}) 10. d4 {With this move white gains time to complete his development.} Qg3 11. d5 (11. Ne4 {was even better because after} Qg6 12. Nfg5 {the attack on f7 gives white the advantage.}) 11... e5 {[%mdl 8192] A serious tactical error!} (11... Nf6 12. Bb5 {nearly equalizes.} (12. dxc6 Ng4 13. Ne4 h2+ 14. Kh1 Nxf2+ 15. Nxf2 Qxf2 {and black has the advantage.}) 12... a6 13. dxc6 axb5 14. Qd4 Bg7 15. Bf4 Qg6 16. Ne5 Qh5 {A complicated position, but with correct play black should prove to have the better of things.}) 12. dxc6 {[%mdl 8192] Obvious and wrong!} (12. Ne4 {is the narrow road to win.} Qg7 13. dxc6 {Black does not have sufficient compensation for the piece. Just a sample line...} bxc6 14. Nfg5 Nh6 15. Nf6+ Ke7 16. Nge4 Nf5 17. Bg5 {and white is winning.}) 12... Bc5 {[%mdl 128] Thanks to having this move available black is able to maintain the advantage. This move was the idea behind 11...e5} 13. Qf1 {Now, if white could just get in Nd5 he might have something.} hxg2 {This lets white off the hook!} (13... Nf6 {Keeps the pressure on white and brings up the reserves.} 14. Bb5 b6 15. Ne2 Qg4 16. Nxe5 hxg2 17. Nxg4 gxf1=Q+ 18. Kxf1 Nxg4 {with the advantage.}) 14. Qxg2 {[%mdl 8192] This loses quickly.} (14. Qe1 Nf6 {This move adding the N to the attack is probably black's best option.} (14... Bxf2+ 15. Qxf2 Qxf2+ 16. Kxf2 f6 17. cxb7 Bxb7 18. Bb5+ {A highly unbalanced material situation has resulted (B+N vs. R+3Ps), but the outcome sould be far from clear. In Shootouts white scored +1 -0 =4}) 15. Bb5 Ng4 16. Be3 Bxe3 17. Qxe3 b6 18. Qe2 {Materially white has a N vs. 3Ps and the chances are about equal. In Shootouts 5 games were drawn.}) 14... Bxf2+ 15. Kf1 {White was almost out of time.} (15. Kh1 {was only marginally better.} bxc6 16. Ne4 Qxg2+ 17. Kxg2 Bb6 18. Nxe5 Be6 19. c4 (19. Nxc6 Bd5) 19... O-O-O {Black's material advantage is sufficient to score the point.}) 15... Bh3 {White resigned.} 0-1

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