Henri Grob (4 June 1904 – 5? July'3 July' according to Gaige, '9 July' according to Golombek, '4 June' according to ''Mundo del Ajedrez'' November 1974, p. 318. 1974) was a Swiss

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player, artist, and painter. He was Swiss chess champion twice, and was awarded the title of

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

in 1950 at its inauguration. Grob pioneered eccentric chess openings, such as 1.g4 (book ''Angriff g2–g4'', Zürich 1942), sometimes known as

Grob's Attack Grob's Attack is an unconventional chess opening in which White begins with the move: :1. g4 It is widely considered to be one of the worst possible first moves for White. International Master John Watson writes, "As far as I can tell, 1 g4 i ...

Chess career

Notable tournaments

Grob was considered a leading Swiss player from the 1930s to 1950s and was invited to many prestigious . In 1926, he tied for 10–12th in Meran (

Edgar Colle Edgard Colle (18 May 1897 – 19 April 1932) was a Belgian chess master. He scored excellent results in major international tournaments, including first at Amsterdam 1926, ahead of Savielly Tartakower and future world champion Max Euwe; firs ...

won). In 1932, he tied for 9–12th in Bern (

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns. By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...

won). In 1934, he tied for 13–14th in Zürich 1934 (Alekhine won). In 1935, he took 3rd, behind

Salo Flohr Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournam ...

and

George Koltanowski George Koltanowski (also "Georges"; 17 September 1903 – 5 February 2000) was a Belgian-born American chess player, promoter, and writer. He was informally known as "Kolty". Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937 ...

, in Barcelona, took 3rd in Rosas (Flohr won), and took 10th in Bad Nauheim ( Bogoljubow won). In 1936, he took 10th in Dresden (Alekhine won), tied for 3rd–4th in Reus, and took 2nd, behind

Erik Lundin Erik Ruben Lundin (2 July 1904 – 5 December 1988) was a Swedish chess master. In 1928, he won in Oslo, took 5th in Helsingborg, tied for 2nd-3rd in Stockholm (''Quadrangular'', Richard Réti won). In 1929, he took 2nd in Göteborg (Nordic Che ...

, in Ostend. In 1937, Grob won as first on tie-break, 1st–3rd with

Reuben Fine Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mi ...

and

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

in Ostend (beating Keres and Fine, both elite players and joint winners of the

AVRO tournament The AVRO tournament was a famous chess tournament held in the Netherlands in 1938, sponsored by the Dutch broadcasting company AVRO. The event was a double round-robin tournament between the eight strongest players in the world. Paul Keres and ...

in 1938). In 1939, he took 9th in Stuttgart (''Europa Turnier''; Bogoljubow won). In 1947, he tied for 2nd–3rd, behind

Savielly Tartakower Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish and French chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grand ...

in Baarn, and took 5th in Venice (Tartakower won). In 1947/48, he tied for 2nd–4th, behind László Szabó, in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

. In 1948, he took 8th in Venice (

Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf (born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf) (15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was a ...

won). In 1949/50, he took 4th in Lucerne ( Max Blau won). In 1950, he took 6th in the International Chess Tournament of Gijón. In 1951, he took 10th in Bad Pyrmont (zonal;

Svetozar Gligorić Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић, 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is consider ...

won).

Representing Switzerland

Grob represented Switzerland in

Chess Olympiads The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

. * In 1927, at fourth board in 1st Chess Olympiad in London (+2−5=7). * In 1935, at second board in 6th Chess Olympiad in Warsaw (+2−8=5). * In 1936, at third board in

3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad The 3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad was held by German Chess Federation (''Grossdeutscher Schachbund'') as a counterpart of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin with reference to 1924 and 1928 events. Many Jewish chess players took part in the event. Si ...

in Munich (+4−7=6). * In 1952, at first board in

10th Chess Olympiad The 10th Chess Olympiad ( fi, 10. Shakkiolympialaiset; sv, Den 10:e Schackolympiad), organized by the FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. team ...

in Helsinki (+6−6=1). He also played for Switzerland in some matches. * In 1950, he lost to

Carlos Guimard Carlos Enrique Guimard (6 April 1913 – 11 September 1998) was an Argentine chess Grandmaster. He was born in Santiago del Estero. His granddaughter Isabel Leonard is a celebrated mezzo-soprano. Biography Guimard was thrice Argentine Champi ...

½:1½ in Zürich (SUI – ARG). * In 1951, he drew with Eugenio Szabados 1:1 in Venice (SUI – ITA). * In 1952, he drew with

Rudolf Teschner Rudolf Teschner (16 February 1922, Potsdam – 23 July 2006, Berlin-Steglitz) was a German chess master and writer. Teschner was seven times Champion of Berlin. In 1948, he won an East-Zones Championship in Bad Doberan, and later in 1951 took the ...

1:1 in Lucerne (SUI – FRG). * In 1955, he won against Ernst Weichselbaumer 1:0 in Zürich (SUI – Saar).

Notable matches

Grob's matches included games against the following notable masters: * In 1933, he lost to

(+1−4=1). * In 1934, he won against

Jacques Mieses Jacques Mieses (born Jacob Mieses; 27 February 1865 – 23 February 1954) was a German-born British chess player. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. He became a naturalized British ci ...

(+4−1=1). * In 1935, he lost to

Lajos Steiner Lajos Steiner (14 June 1903, in Nagyvárad ( Oradea) – 22 April 1975, in Sydney) was a Hungarian–born Australian chess master. Steiner was one of four children of Bernat Steiner, a mathematics teacher, and his wife Cecilia,(née Schwarz) ...

(+1−3=0). * In 1937, he drew with

(+1−1=2). * In 1947, he lost to

Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...

(+0−5=1). * In 1948, he lost to

(+1−5=0). * In 1949, he lost to

Efim Bogoljubow Efim Bogoljubow ( or ), also known as Ewfim Dimitrijewitsch Bogoljubow, ( (); also Romanized ''Bogoljubov'', ''Bogolyubov''; uk, Юхим Дмитрович Боголюбов, Yukhym Dmytrovych Boholiubov; April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952) ...

(+2−4=1). * In 1950, he lost to

Lodewijk Prins Lodewijk Prins (27 January 1913, Amsterdam – 11 November 1999) was a Dutch chess player and referee of chess competitions. Prins was awarded the International Master title in 1950, and was made an International Arbiter in 1960. In 1982 FI ...

(+1−4=1).

Notable games

* Salo Flohr vs. Grob, Match 1933,

Queen's Pawn Game Queen's Pawn Game broadly refers to any chess opening starting with the move 1.d4, which is the second most popular opening move after 1.e4 ( King's Pawn Game). Terminology The term "Queen's Pawn Game" is usually used to describe openings begi ...

: Krause Variation (D02), * Grob vs.

Aron Nimzowitsch Aron Nimzowitsch ( lv, Ārons Nimcovičs, russian: Аро́н Иса́евич Нимцо́вич, ''Aron Isayevich Nimtsovich''; 7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935) was a Latvian-born Danish chess player and writer. In the late 1920s, Nimz ...

, Zürich 1934, Alekhine Defence: Normal Variation (B03),

Swiss Chess Championship

He was Swiss champion twice, in 1939 and 1951.

Correspondence chess

Between 1946 and 1972, Grob played 3,614 correspondence games. He won 2,703, lost 430, and drew 481 games. All of the games were played against readers of the ''

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (''NZZ''; "New Journal of Zürich") is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zürich. The paper was founded in 1780. It was described as having a reputation as a high-quality ne ...

'', a leading Swiss newspaper.

Grob's Attack

Grob gives his name to Grob's Attack, an unconventional chess opening featuring the move 1.g4. Grob analysed the opening extensively and used it often in his correspondence games in the ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung''. This opening is classified under the code A00 ("irregular openings" or "uncommon openings") in the ''

Encyclopedia of Chess Openings The ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' () is a reference work describing the state of Chess theory#Opening theory, opening theory in chess, originally published in five volumes from 1974 to 1979 by the Serbian company Šahovski Informator (Che ...

''. The opening is generally shunned by skilled players, as results tend to be poor for White.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grob, Henri 1904 births 1974 deaths Swiss chess players Chess International Masters Chess theoreticians Chess Olympiad competitors 20th-century chess players Place of birth missing Place of death missing