Grob Opening: Romford Countergambit
1. g4 d5 2. Bg2 Bxg4 3. c4 d4
The Grob Opening: Romford Countergambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A00, reached after 1. g4 d5 2. Bg2 Bxg4 3. c4 d4. 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 43 times by this move order. White won 53%, 3% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 4. Bxb7 (79% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.96 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 4. Bxb7 Nd7 5. h3 Bh5 6. Bf3 Bxf3)
- ECO
- A00
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rn1qkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/8/2Pp2b1/8/PP1PPPBP/RNBQK1NR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. g4 d5 2. Bg2 Bxg4 3. c4 d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 13 | |
| 1500-1999 | 20 | |
| 2000+ | 10 | |
| All | 43 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Bxb7 | 34 (79%) | |
| 4. Qb3 | 8 (19%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
6 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 83%, draw 0%, Black 17%). The strongest:
- GM Sebastien Maze (2557) – IM Lawrence Trent (2399) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 21st July · 2020-07-21
- GM Vugar Rasulov (2478) – IM Lawrence Trent (2399) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 2nd Feb · 2021-02-02
- IM Arad Nazari (2401) – FM Orest Vovk (2315) 1-0 · Titled Tue 17th Sep Early · 2024-09-17
- FM Dachey Lin (2303) – FM Jonas Eilenberg (2290) 1-0 · Titled Tue 30th Apr Late · 2024-04-30
- FM Dachey Lin (2307) – FM Timur Kocharin (2266) 1-0 · Titled Tue 25th Mar Late · 2025-03-25
Search all games of the Grob Opening: Romford Countergambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Jora_Barygin (2489) – MelkMaschinenMeister (2520) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Darth__Nihilus (2454) – mightysonce (2456) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Darth__Nihilus (2467) – AntiberserkM (2435) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Grob Opening: Grob Gambit, Fritz Gambit 1. g4 d5 2. Bg2 Bxg4 3. c4
Continuations
- Grob Opening: Grob Gambit, Fritz Gambit, Romford Countergambit A00 · 1. g4 d5 2. Bg2 Bxg4 3. c4 d4 4. Bxb7 Nd7 5. Bxa8 Qxa8
More Grob Opening lines (all)
- Grob Opening A00
- 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, Keres Gambit A00
- Grob Opening: Grob Gambit, Richter-Grob Gambit A00
- Grob Opening: Keene Defense A00
- Grob Opening: Keene Defense, Main Line A00
- Grob Opening: London Defense 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.