I carry a strip of rubber in my facuet parts box for that purpouse. You need something about 1/16th thick, 1&1/2 wide and 6 inches long made of soft flexible rubber. Wrap it one thickness around the piece to be removed and place pipe wrench or channel locs on rubber. Wipe the rubber with a damp rag to give it grip on the chrome surface. Same principle as when you spit on the gym floor and rub your shoes in it to give them traction.

I couldn't find a piece of rubber like that around here, so I used a rubber glove with channel locks....it just needed a little more coaxing than I could muster up. Thanks so much!