Grob Opening: Keene Defense
1. g4 d5 2. h3 e5 3. Bg2 c6
The Grob Opening: Keene Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A00, reached after 1. g4 d5 2. h3 e5 3. Bg2 c6. It is a line of the Grob Opening. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 16 times by this move order. White won 31%, 0% were drawn and Black won 69%. The most popular continuation is 4. c4 (31% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.87 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 4. d3 Ne7 5. Nf3 Ng6 6. Nc3 Na6)
- ECO
- A00
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp3ppp/2p5/3pp3/6P1/7P/PPPPPPB1/RNBQK1NR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. g4 d5 2. h3 e5 3. Bg2 c6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 8 | |
| 1500-1999 | 6 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 16 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. c4 | 5 (31%) | |
| 4. d4 | 4 (25%) | |
| 4. b3 | 2 (13%) | |
| 4. a3 | 2 (13%) | |
| 4. c3 | 1 (6%) | |
| 4. e3 | 1 (6%) | |
| 4. d3 | 1 (6%) |
Master games
60 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 13%, Black 42%). The strongest:
- GM Jorden Van Foreest (2714) – GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (2610) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 29th Mar Late · 2022-03-29
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) – IM Dushyant Sharma (2345) 1-0 · Titled Tue 20th Jun Late · 2023-06-20
- IM Basman, M. (2330) – GM Anish Giri (2768) 0-1 · 6th LCC Super Rapidplay Open 2014 · 2014-12-06
- FM Orest Vovk (2315) – GM Alexey Sarana (2685) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 11th Jul Late · 2023-07-11
- FM Orest Vovk (2315) – GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2651) 0-1 · 1st 3-0 Thu 9th Jul 2026 · 2026-07-09
Search all games of the Grob Opening: Keene Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- stormin1961 (1999) – Cybernautilus (2054) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 0s
- sega55555 (1994) – gefar (2037) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- stevencarrwork (2066) – philfianchetto173 (1921) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 480 + 3s
Comes from
Grob Opening 1. g4
Continuations
- Grob Opening: Keene Defense, Main Line A00 · 1. g4 d5 2. h3 e5 3. Bg2 c6 4. d4 e4 5. c4 Bd6 6. Nc3 Ne7
More Grob Opening lines (all)
- Grob Opening: Alessi Gambit A00
- Grob Opening: Double Grob A00
- Grob Opening: Double Grob, Coca-Cola Gambit A00
- Grob Opening: Grob Gambit A00
- Grob Opening: Grob Gambit Declined A00
- Grob Opening: Grob Gambit, Basman Gambit A00
- Grob Opening: Grob Gambit, Fritz Gambit A00
- Grob Opening: Grob Gambit, Fritz Gambit, Romford Countergambit A00
- Grob Opening: Grob Gambit, Keres Gambit A00
- Grob Opening: Grob Gambit, Richter-Grob Gambit A00
- Grob Opening: London Defense A00
- Grob Opening: Romford Countergambit A00
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.