Editing Grob's Attack (section)

==History and usage==
The opening takes its name from Swiss IM [[Henri Grob]] (1904–1974) who analysed it extensively and played hundreds of [[Correspondence chess|correspondence games]] with it. In Grob's newspaper column analysis of this opening, he referred to it as the '''Spike Opening''', a name which is still used occasionally. Other early references used the name '''Ahlhausen's Opening''', after Carl Ahlhausen (1835–1892) of [[Berlin]], one of the first to play 1.g4.  [[Savielly Tartakower]] sometimes played this opening in [[simultaneous exhibition]]s and called it the '''Genoa''' or '''San Pier D'Arena Opening''', after the city and suburb of [[Genoa]] where he first used it. 

Along with several other uncommon first moves for White, the Grob is classified under the code A00 ("[[Irregular openings (chess)|irregular openings]]" or "uncommon openings") in the ''[[Encyclopedia of Chess Openings]]''. White has three main plans: to support the g4-pawn with h3; pressure against d5 or on the h1–a8 diagonal, preventing Black from playing ...Bxg4 (e.g. 1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4, exploiting the pin against the b7-pawn); or advancing the h-pawn in a {{chessgloss|kingside}} attack.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benjamin |first1=Joel |author-link1=Joel Benjamin |last2=Schiller |first2=Eric |author-link2=Eric Schiller |year=1987 |title=Unorthodox Openings |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|Macmillan Publishing Company]] |isbn=0-02-016590-0 |page=75}}</ref>

Perhaps the highest-profile game to feature the Grob was when [[Michael Basman]] defeated grandmaster [[John Nunn]] with it in 1978.<ref>[https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1102936 Basman-Nunn, Oxford 1978]</ref> The Grob was also forced upon [[Anatoly Karpov]] by former Soviet premier [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] in a friendly match against [[Susan Polgar]] in [[Lindsborg, Kansas]] 2005. Gorbachev made the ceremonial first move and played 1.g4. Normally players can simply retract ceremonial moves they do not like. In this case Gorbachev insisted Karpov play on, saying he wanted to "cause some difficulties for the older player".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/che-for-peace-with-mikhail-gorbachev|title=Chess for Peace – with Mikhail Gorbachev|date=2 November 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/oct/30/gorbachev_supports_chess_peace_initiative/|title=Gorbachev supports Chess for Peace initiative}}</ref>

The Grob was included in the opening book for the superfinal of the 12th [[Top Chess Engine Championship]] season (April–July 2018). Both finalists, [[Stockfish (chess)|Stockfish]] and [[Komodo (chess)|Komodo]], evaluated the position after 1.g4 as providing a clear advantage for Black, and both failed to defend the White position.<ref>See the [https://www.tcec-chess.com/archive.html?season=12&div=sf&game=45 TCEC archive], season 12 superfinal, games 45 and 46.</ref>