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Hippopotamus Defence

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wwrs

The hippopotamus is usually followed by either a crushing defeat (serves you right for insulting them repeatedly) or a psychological breakdown from the other side, resulting in terrible moves to try to break through the pawn line, which becomes a mistake, leading to more and more mistakes and eventually a very one-sided checkmate.

hboson47

Hippo Defense is nothing but a variation of Modern Defense and its indeed a very exciting opening. I started playing chess since last 4 months and was struggling to find a pet opening which I could play comfortably with and arrive at positions which I was familiar with.Then I came across Nigel Davies's games online and saw this fascinating game of his in which he played modern defense in hippo style and thrashed his opponent. I started seriously learning this and then applied it in blitz games with pretty devastating effect as black. I am still learning the intricacies of this opening which is so very flexible that once you understand the underlying idea behind it,you can play real decent games without getting whopped. Again,remember you need to be patient when playing with this,slowly cutting off good squares for his/her pieces,gaining spatial advantage mostly on Q-side and punching holes in his center.From my experience,I have seen many opponents in bltiz,trying to attack from all sides and once you fend them off,their pieces end up in wrong positions and then you get to him them.Basically,you got to be lurking under the water level and then pounce on your opponent quickly.Like shock and awe tactics.Having said that,if you play too passively,you are going to be steam rolled by white's center and then your K-side.Every day I discover something new about this opening.My personal advise is,keep testing it in your blitz games,fine tune it,rinse and repeat until you get a hang of it and can come up with a skeletal plan for your games.Initially you are gonna lose,but then again you learn more when you lose and then win.

Below is a blitz game which I played yesterday.Hope you find it informative.Hit me up if you want to practise this along with me.Would like to learn new ideas from others too.

hboson47
AnthonyCG wrote:

The hippo is worthless if you don't know how to use pawn breaks correctly. This usually leads to Black getting run over by White even if it's not played well. Many of my games go like this:

 

It's a waste unless you can be as flexible as your opponent.

Nice point,"It's a waste unless you can be as flexible as your opponent.".That sums it up in one line. Usually black breaks the center either by going c5 or f5.Again depends upon the position.Hippo/Modern Defense is like a double edged sword.

wormrose

When in doubt - play a Hippo!

   Join the new group

   

     def Hippo

TetsuoShima

7 hippo threads in the most recent posts list?

scythe_makes_right
hboson47
 

You're bishop was hanging on move 11!

GPolansky1985

I just learned that i've been playing the hippo defense for years. I am a beginner, so maybe eventually i'll try something new, but for now, I LOVE my hippo!

9spaceking
Conquistador wrote:

I actually developed a hippo style formation that I employed in every game I played when I was younger until I began learning openings.  Every time I have completely set it up, I have never lost with it.

 

 

Lol wow.... I can just imagine The Lion vs Your Altered Hippo. Crazy game that would be.

finvek

I learned different variation of the hippo, instead of Ne7 i play Nf6, which guards against Qe3

blueChessbear

i literally just lost against this https://www.chess.com/live/game/2157226758

wormrose
[COMMENT DELETED]
yureesystem

 Hippo rocks! happy.png

AussieMatey

Hippotentiallynchlike.

imsighked2

I used to freak out when I saw the hippo and there is not a lot of material on how to defeat it (it really calls for a book). GM Roman Dzindzichashvili has a nice video here on Chess.com for premium members on how to combat it and there is another on You Tube. I remember feeling frustrated at the time because the video teaches you to open 1. d4, which I didn't play at the time (but do now). I just got a book on the Modern that has an entire chapter on how to play the Hippo: "Tiger's Modern" by Tiger Hillarp Persson. Some people dismiss it, but there are grandmasters who play it, such as Persson and Simon Williams.

 

imsighked2

I like AnthonyCG's way of attacking it. It looks a little like the Bayonette Attack. I would love to find white wins against the Hippo in the database, but I've never had any luck looking.

imsighked2

 

Eric_Briffoz

A new book about the hippo defence and also about the Reversed Hippo (as white) has been published. The ideas and 30 GM games are explained in detail (more than 150 pages!)

The kindle version is available also in a few hours...

https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Guide-Hippo-Attack-Defence/dp/1973974428/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501452485&sr=1-1&keywords=hippo+chess

 

wormrose

Only 30 games and 150 pages? That book is too expensive. I am very interested in the Hippo and I have every book, but I won't be buying this one.

Eric_Briffoz

Hi wormose. I am not asking you to buy it happy.png 

First of all, every book means 1 book from Andrew Martin, right?

Secondly, the book explains all ideas, tactics, strategies and plans behind the hippo, move by move. So yes, you will find a lot of explanations, because I believe that learning variations by heart is not interesting. I find it much more interesting to get the understanding instead. 

Best regards.

Eric_Briffoz

Hi all, good news: the book about the hippo attack & defence is now 19.9$, or 9$ for Kindle version:

https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Guide-Hippo-Attack-Defence/dp/1973974428/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501452485

happy.png