Dynamic Hippo Defense in Chess

Dynamic Hippo Defense in Chess [B00]

Deadly Hippo Unleashed!

Nitin .K. Chatur

Dynamic Hippo Defense in chess [B00]

Deadly Hippo Unleashed! By Nitin .K. Chatur

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Copyright

The right of Nitin Chatur to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1957. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by information storage and retrieval systems, without the written permission of the author. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Request for permission should be sent to [email protected]

First edition: 2011

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Contents Page Introduction to Hippo defense

6

Black’s strategy in Hippo defense

9

Move’s Sequence

10

Characteristics in black’s move

14

Various attacking theme’s for black

15

Hippo defense games, by grandmasters at international stage

26

Annotated Hippo defense games, played by me

31

Hippo defense games, from master level chess players

40

Conclusion

50

Glossary

51

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Symbols K=King. Q=Queen. B=Bishop. N=Knight. R=Rook. p = pawn.

+

Check

++

Double check

#

Checkmate

!!

Brilliant move

!

Good move

?

Bad move

O-O King side castle O-O-O Queenside castle 1-0 The game ends in a win for white 1/2-1/2 The game ends in a draw 0-1 the game ends in a win for black

Value of pieces in the game. Pieces

Symbol

Standing Position on chess board White Black d1 square d8 square

Value Points 9.5

Strength

=

+

+ +

Queen

(Q)

Rook

(R)

a1 & h1 squares

a8 & h8 squares

5

=

+

Bishop

(B)

c1 & f1 squares

c8 & f8 squares

3.5

=

+

+

Knight

(N)

b1 & g1 squares

b8 & g8 squares

3

=

+

+

2nd

Pawn King

(K)

row

e1 square

7th

row

e8 square

1 Most valuable

For beginners who want to learn more basics on chess, these are helpful websites: www.chess.com, www.chesscafe.com, www.chesscenter.com, www.chessbase.com NKC

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INTRODUCTION

Every chess player at some point of time, must have thought of having a ferocious opening or defense in chess that could blow your opponent away, not only by surprise but also by deadly tactics along with cool strategy giving you a dominating play in such a way that even your opponents would applaud you for sensational display of talent that you posses. Well, it’s not just a dream anymore! Are you irritated by the fact that your opponents don’t fall prey to your same old tricks, which won you games when you were new to the chess world? Are you confused among which defenses should you use against e4 and which against d4, that suites your style of playing and at the same time are solid enough to hold your opponents under the sword, finally giving you the ultimate victory?

Why not to keep things simple by considering a defense that is dynamically rich, rock-solid, flexible & aggressive along with surprising element for your opponents, that is game winning against both e4 & d4. Moreover, many of the chess players; play according to what we call, chess intuitions, where we recall the defense moves that we mugged up for a specific defense and blindly play those moves without considering the position or tactical possibility that your opponent has in a particular situation in the game. And on the addition if he introduces a novelty of a move that you didn’t even consider in a critical 50-50 situation, you take hell lot of time to think on the position only to end up losing by making a wrong move…….i know this must have happened to many of us at some point.

Hence I would like to introduce you, a defensive system that you would like to add to your defensive repertoire when playing black side on the chess board.

Dynamic Hippo Defense in chess! The Hippo is a fierce animal; ready to crush anyone who gets too close. This defense has got almost every thing in it…. The Surprise element Unorthodox but dynamically rich in tactics, strategy and sacrifices Rock solid & Flexible And positive results if played correctly with a brave heart.

Enjoy this book!!! NKC

Nitin Chatur, April 2011 Page 6

The Hippopotamus defense, Double fianchetto, Universal defense or Beginners game Are different names of the same defense

Hippopotamus defense [B00] is an unorthodox defense consisting, three rank setup of pawns and pieces in a specific formation for black that throws a challenge, for white to break it if he can Hippo defense can be played easily against any of white’s opening moves e4, d4, Nf3, c4 This system is relatively simple to learn and at the same time strong, solid, flexible and dynamic enough to crack your opponents. Hippo defense was occasionally played in the 20 th century at master levels but it earned its popularity only when Boris Spassky employed the same set-up, dubbed the "Hippopotamus" by commentators, twice in his world championship match (12th and 16th match) against ex-world champion Tigran Petrosian in 1966 (both games ending in draw)! Hippopotamus defense is played by many Grandmasters at international level in major tournaments. Among them are GM Mihai Suba , GM Igor Glek , GM N. Short, GM Gata Kamsky, GM T. Miles, GM T. Hillarp Person, GM L. McShane and many more.

This black’s defense is a solid & reliable system, and there are plenty of opportunities for attacking play leading to many exciting battle fought over the chess board, hence now-a-days frequently seen in tournaments of all levels In a thousand games played at master level this system has proved its worth, compiling an impressive record of wins against every imaginable style of opponent play Now let’s take a look at the typical HIPPO DEFENSE formation for black:

A typical pure Hippo defense formation This is the standard setup of Hippo defense; you should try to reach in each of your games. As you can see; this standard setup is a symmetric formation of pieces and pawns on the kingside as well as queen side for black and is achieved after just ten moves! NKC

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In this setup, four pawns are brought forward to the third rank: the queen and king pawns, and the two knight pawns. Four pieces are placed on the second rank: The bishops in the fianchetto position, and the knights in front of the king and queen The connected pawns chain takes the front lead in this defense and the pieces are very well placed behind the pawns making them very difficult to attack. All the pieces and pawns are active and supporting each other as well as co-ordinate in defense. Bishops control the open long diagonals, and the knights control three forward squares each. The queen and king are safe behind the strong pawn wall and the active pieces. For any chess game you play; the center control is an important principle. It is rightly said; who ever has the center control on a chess board has the game control.

Let’s see if this defense does that…. The forward pawns on e6 and d6 squares constitute short center control which is good. The flank pawns, h6 g6 b6 a6 guards against any of whites pieces landing near the center. The four squares in front of the position are triply guarded, which minimizes the threat of any frontal attack. The symmetric formation or mirror nature of the defense makes it flexible as pieces can easily move from king side to queenside and vice versa to coordinate an attack or to help in defense. Moreover the balance structure of Hippo defense gives black king, time and option to decide on which side to castle…whether the kingside or queenside, which depends on which flank, is white attacking black. Hence castling should be delayed and king should be castled at the right time on the opposite side of white’s flank attack. You control the nature of the game, closed or open, quiet or full of risks, where and when attacks are made. Hence this defense is therefore suitable for attacking and defending players alike.

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Black’s Strategy: The main idea behind the hippo defense is to defend the center by taking control of it by pawns on e6 and d6 as well as both the fianchetto bishops (Bg7, Bb7) guarding the center from a safe distance where they are less reluctant to attack from white. And both knights on e7 and d7 squares guarding three squares each in the center. At the same time keeping structure flexible enough to maneuver the pieces around to coordinate attack or defense. And a well time castling move taking black king to a safe corner without affecting the active post of any of blacks pieces. Black momentarily cedes the center & space advantage to white, but a timely strike in center nullifies the advantage for white and gives rise to a ferociously exciting battle between both sides, only the brave hearted to survive it. Depending on the situation in game, Black should timely strike the centre with e5, d5, c5, f5 Now with …c5 black’s counter play will normally be based on his dark-squared bishop along with the occupation of some important ‘dark-colored’ outposts (e5, f4, d4, h4) …..or with e5 where Black should try to block the center and play on the kingside. Black can attack white side on any of the flanks depending on which side white is weak in defense Black’s attack starts in the middle game after completing the development of all pieces and achieving the desired hippo-setup, castling black king to safety. Black has plenty of attacking opportunities, only after completing the setup and finding out the weak entry point into white’s camp. Typically black can use h, g, f files for attack on white’s castled king and a, b, c files if the attack is on queenside; but the key lies in striking the center at right time and activating all minor and major pieces in coordination with each other creating a lovely combination with them for a glorious victory. The power of hippo defense increases from opening to middle game and even stronger towards endgame if well played. A well coordinated attack, with deadly piece combination will definitely rip white’s attack apart, giving him taste of his own medicine. Thus this defense is only for those who are willing to try something different, and ready to handle the pressure situation correctly and play long positional games.

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Move’s Sequence: Hippo defense can be easily played against anyone, including Fide rated players up to 2600! The desired hippo setup can be easily achieved in ten moves, and there are approximately 2280 ways of achieving that setup. But I recommend following a specific move sequence against every opening move e4, d4, c4, Nf3. This is important because this can avoid you from landing in trouble against over aggressive chess players and also some dangerous opening lines for white against the hippo defense. It is easier to get into the Hippo defense via 1.e4 b6 / 1.d4 b6 / 1.c4 b6 / 1.Nf3 b6 This opening move helps black to escape some very dangerous lines rising, if you choose other opening moves sequence. And if you are a beginner or new to this defense then you might end up losing quickly due to inexperience and wrong move choices against white’s attacking play.

This is the recommended Move Sequence:

Against e4: 1. e4 2. d4 3. Bd3 4. Nf3 5. Nc3 6. O-O 7. Be3 8. Qd2 9. Rd1 10. Re1 11. Nce2

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b6 Bb7 e6 d6 Ne7 g6 Bg7 h6 Nd7 a6

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Against d4: 1. d4 b6 2. e4 Bb7 3. Nc3 e6 4. Bd3 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6.0–0 Ne7 7. Bf4 d6 8. Qd2 h6 9. h3 Nd7 10. Rfe1 a6 11. a4

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Against c4: 1. c4 2. d4 3. Nc3 4. Nf3 5. e4 6. Bd3 7. O-O 8. Be3 9. Qe2 10. Rd1 11. Re1

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b6 Bb7 e6 d6 Nd7 Ne7 g6 Bg7 a6 h6

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Against Nf3: 1. Nf3 d6 2. e4 b6 3. d4 Bb7 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bd3 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. Be3 Ne7 8. Qd2 h6 9. h3 Nd7 10. Rd1 a6 11. Ne2

After going trough these various opening moves, you must have noticed certain characteristics in black’s moves.

These are:

Whenever white plays e4, d4, c4, Nf3, black plays b6 Whenever white plays Nf3, black plays d6 Whenever white plays Nc3, black plays e6 Whenever white plays Bd3, black plays g6 Whenever white plays Be3, Qd2 black plays h6 Whenever white plays Bd3, Qe2 black plays a6 Whenever white plays Be3, black plays Bg7 NKC

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Characteristics in black’s move Whenever white plays Nf3, black plays d6 This move takes control of the short center for black, and avoids knight hoping forward in the center, d6 also vacates the d7 square for black’s b8 knight in order to gain strong center control

Whenever white plays Nc3, black plays e6 This move takes control of the short center for black, and avoids knight hoping forward in the center, e6 also vacates the e7 square for black’s g8 knight in order to gain strong center control

Whenever white plays Bd3, black plays g6 This move strengthens the b1-h7 diagonal thus making white’s d3 bishop ineffective or harmless and also g6 vacates the g7 square for the all important fianchetto black bishop.

Whenever white plays Be3, Qd2 black plays h6 This is an important move to avoid the pinning of black knight against black Queen.

Whenever white plays Bd3, Qe2 black plays a6 This is an important move to avoid the pinning of black knight against black King.

Whenever white plays Be3, black plays Bg7 This is important move to take control of diagonal h8-a1 and also avoiding white’s bishop from landing on f6 square.

The basic principle of developing knight’s before bishop’s can be followed or avoided, it certainly depends on the situation, and it’s completely the reader’s choice.

So Now you don’t have to mug up these moves, because now you know the importance of those moves thus it makes easy for you to play the defense correctly.

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Various attacking themes for black: Now, what to play after achieving the hippo setup? After finishing the opening phase where white has a strong center, let’s see, how to proceed into the middle game and what various attacking themes are their for black Kingside attack Queen side attack Center pawns attack Sacrifices

Kingside attack… 1. e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 e6 4.Nf3 d6 5.0–0 Nd7 6.Qe2 Ne7 7.c4 g6 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.Be3 h6 10.Rac1 0–0

'Hippopotamus' set-up by black against white’s strong center 11. d5 e5 white starts the attack with d5 and black rightly closes the center with e5 as white pieces are active and ready for attack 12. Nd2 Bc8 13.b4 f5! Black counters white’s queenside attack with his own kingside attack, now white king is on blacks kingside so black has chosen the right direction to attack than whites choice 14. f3 f4! Choking white’s bishop 15. Bf2 g5 black is controlling black squares on king side which is an important aspect of the game

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16. c5 Nf6…introduces knight to help in attack over white king, as knights can easily jump over the pieces hence in closed positions knights are dangerous pieces 17. cxd6 cxd6 18.Rc2 Ng6 19.Nb5 g4! Opening files to pile up pieces and attack white, now fxg only helps black and opens up white’s position 20. Rfc1 g3! Now if hxg, then Blacks Nh5! then fxg, Qh4 decides game for black 21. Be1 gxh2+ 22. Kh1 opening up file is asking for more trouble by white king …Nh5 23. Rc6 Ng3+! 24. Bxg3 fxg3 25.Rxd6 Qg5! Black queen participates in attack 26.Nc7 Nf4! 27. Qe3 Nh3! A superb move, now white can’t exchange queens as Nf2+ is mate for white, so black queen has to defend f2 square from black knight and also has to protect herself from black queen; both cannot be possible so white resigns. 0–1

To win chess games, all your pieces should work in harmony, well coordinated & well directed! So, black had a dominating attack, which made whites attack look simply feeble, this is because black attacked on the right side of the board, the king side where white didn’t had a good defense. Black closed the files when he needed to and then timely opened them up to pile up attack on white, black pieces helped in attack while whites pieces achieved nothing on the queenside, this shows choosing the right side to attack also matters.

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1. d4 b6 2.e4 Bb7 3.Nc3 e6 4.Bd3 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.0–0 Ne7 7.Bf4 d6 8.Qd2 h6 9.h3 Nd7 10.Rfe1 a6, A pure 'Hippopotamus' set-up by black against white’s strong center.

11. a4 g5!? Gaining tempo by attacking bishop, expanding on kingside, and at the same time aiming for Ne7-g6 with a 'dark-squared' play 12.Bg3 Ng6 13.Rad1 0–0 14.Bc4 Kh8 15.Nh2 Nf6 16.Ng4 Nh5! preparing f5! To open lines for assault on white king, and attacking white’s strong defensive piece, g3 bishop 17. Bh2 Nh4! Black's knight proves to be very strong on the h4-square! Now, white can’t play g3 to push black knight backwards, because of Nf3 forking king & queen and black knight is eyeing g2 pawn from h4, when f5! Opens b7 bishop diagonal 18. Ne3 Nf4! Black knights dominate all over the kingside. Idea is dual purpose, asking white to exchange his only active defensive piece (bishop) on king side for black’s dominant knight, which will directly activate black queen on g-file with black rook support from g8. If white does not exchange then still f5! is devastating for white. So Black is in control over here!

19. Kh1 f5! Another strong move trying to open h1–a8 diagonal for black's light-squared bishop by attacking e4 pawn & targeting g2 square 20.d5 fxe4

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21. dxe6 Nfxg2! Temporary sacrifice to Remove the defender of white king, now Ne3xg2 walks into pin when e3! Recovers the lost piece by Bb7xg2+! And also now f-file is open for rook+ queen attack for black. So black is winning here 22. e7 Qxe7 23.Nxg2 Nf3 24.Qe3 Qd7 25.Be2 Qxh3 26.Bxf3 exf3 and white is defenseless 0–1

Queen side attack … 1. e4 b6 2.Bc4 Bb7 3.Nc3 e6 4. d4 White goes for strong center control…Ne7..Fights for control of d5 square 5. Bg5 pins black knight against black queen thus taking d5 square control… h6 6. Bh4 g5...Attacking black bishop as well as vacating g7 square for black bishop 7. Bg3 Bg7 8. Nf3 d6 9.Qd2 a6 10.d5 e5…closes the center as black king is in middle of the board and white has strong center with active pieces 11. Qe2 Ng6…eyes f4 square 12. Nd2 Nd7 …gets into hippo setup, a delayed one.

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13. h3 Qe7 14.Bh2 0–0 15. g3 b5…black counters whites kingside attack with queenside attack 16. Bd3 Nc5…attacks d3 bishop 17. a3 Nxd3+ exchanging knight for bishop, now black has 2 bishop advantage over whites 2 knights if game goes till end game 18. Qxd3 Rac8 19.Bg1 re-routes bishop to an active e3 square…Qd7 20. f3 Ne7…now that white has control of f4 square, black knight on g6 is momentarily inactive, thus black plans f5! To strike the center as black king has castled to safety 21. Be3 c5… opens up center 22. dxc6 Bxc6 23.Nf1 Qc7 24.Qd2 attempting to open blacks king side for attack with h, g, f pawns… f5 25. h4 f4 26.gxf4 gxf4…exf4 would have allowed white to open a-file by pawn exchange, on which white rook is active and queen ready to take control of a-file 27. Bf2 Rfd8…looking for d5 push to open center 28.Nd5 Nxd5 29.exd5 Bd7 30.c3 Bf5 31.0–0–0 Qc4…looking for white square play on queenside with queen+bishop 32.Re1 a5 33. Nh2 b4 34.Bb6 bxc3! Blacks queen, rook, bishops are all directed towards white king, and black has a winning attack here so ignoring the whites bishop threat, now white can play Qxc3 because of black rook present on c-file 35. bxc3 Qb3! Mate threat on b1 square 36. Qb2 Rxc3+! 37. Qxc3 forced move Qxc3+ mate threat

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0–1

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Center pawns attack: 1. e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 e6 4.Be3 a6 5.Qd2 Ne7 6.a4 b6 The first sign that Black is intending for 'Hippopotamus' set-up 7. Nf3 d6 8.Bc4 h6 9.h3 Nd7 10.0–0 Bb7 A pure Hippo formation!

11. Rfe1 g5!? A typical move in this type of position! Black is aiming for Ne7-g6 with a 'dark-squared' play on the kingside. 12. Nh2 white quickly understands the purpose of blacks last move g5 and also anticipating blacks next potential move Nf6, which will ask white to take decision whether to exchange powerful knight or retreat. Thus playing Nh2 to keep control of some dark squares on kingside where he has castled. Ng6 13. Nf1 Nf6 14.Ng3 0–0 15.Bd3 c5! It's time for Black to strike in the centre! 16. dxc5?! White cedes the centre. ...bxc5 17. Rad1 Qc7 Gets out of the rook’s way on d-file. 18. Qe2 clear’s the way for unleashing the rook…d5! Opens up center and taking control of it with center connected pawns 19. exd5 exd5 …now Black's hanging center pawns are a real threat for white! 20. Bc1 Rae8 21.Qd2 Nh4! A momentary outpost! Black’s knight and bishop are eyeing white’s g2 pawn when black pushes pawn to d4. Black’s plan is based on moving forward the d- and c-pawn thus driving back White's pieces to the back rank.

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22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23.Re1 Rxe1+ 24.Qxe1 c4 25.Bf1 d4! Attacking white knight 26.Nce2 Qc5 27. Qd1 Ne4 28.Nxe4 Bxe4 29. Ng3 Bg6 preserving both bishops because in endgames 2 bishops are powerful than 2 knights. 30. Qe2 d3 31.cxd3 cxd3 32.Qe8+ Kh7 33.Be3 Qd5 34.Bd2 Bxb2 35.f3 Be5 36.Ne4 Bxe4 37. fxe4 Qd4+ 38. Kh1 Qf2! Game over for white as he loses one piece and mate follows up on g2. 0–1

So, attack with center connected pawns is mighty enough to win game when they are well supported and protected by other minor and major pieces.

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Sacrifices All attacking and aggressive players love chess games won by sacrificing material, well I think that’s what gives chess its real beauty. Hippo defense has plenty of opportunity for creative players to show their talent with classy sacrificial attacks. Game 1: 1. e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Nc3 e6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Be2 Bg7 6.Bg5 Ne7 7.Qd2 h6 8.Be3 d6 9.0–0–0 a6 10. Bd3 Nd7 A pure 'Hippopotamus' set-up by black against white’s strong center.

11. Ne1 planning f4…b5 12. f4 c5 …kingside attack with f4 countered by queenside attack with c5 13. dxc5 b4 14.Ne2 dxc5 15.f5 gxf5 16.exf5 Qa5 17. Kb1 Bd5…activating bishop, defending e6 pawn and at the same time attacking a2 pawn 18. Nc1 0–0–0 19.Qe2 Nb6 20.Bxa6+ Kb8 21.Nf3 Nxf5

All black pieces are pointing at white’s king NKC

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22. Bf4+ Ka7 23. Bd3 Bxb2! Now, if KxB then Qa3+ and then mate on next black move after Na4! 24. Nb3 Qa3 25. Bb5 to avoid blacks Na5! Bc4! 26. Qxc4 BxB walks into mate again…

Nxc4

27. Bxc4 Kb6 28. Be5 Bc3! Black mates white by Qg2#

0–1

Game 2: 1. d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.a3 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 Ne7 6.Nf3 Bb7 7.Bd3 d6 8.0-0 Nd7 9.Re1 h6 10.h3 a6

11. Be3 g5 a typical move in hippo defense, vacates g6 square for knight 12. Rc1 c5 13.d5 Ng6 looking to open f-file 14. Bc2 Qe7 15.Qd2 0-0 16. Rcd1 Nde5 attacking white’s f3 knight thus threaten to open up white’s king castle 17. Nxe5 Bxe5 18.Bd3 Qf6 19.Na4 Rab8 taking control of b-file 20.Nxb6 Bc8 21.Na4 Bd7 22. Nc3 Rb3 23.Rb1 Rfb8 putting pressure by attacking on b-file, thus forces white to defend 24. Nd1 exd5 25.cxd5 Nf4 attacking d3 bishop twice NKC

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26. Bxf4 gxf4 opening g-file for attack 27. Bc2 Rxh3! All blacks pieces are directing towards white king, all they want is to open up the castle and Rxh3 does exactly that. Now bishops, queen and rook can easily access g-file without any problem 28. gxh3 Kh8 29.f3 Rg8+ 30. Kh1 Qh4 Yet another wonderful attack by black shows hippo got the potential to bite hard 0-1

Game 3: 1 e4 b6 2 d4 Bb7 3 Bd3 e6 4 Nf3 d6 5 0-0 Nd7 6 c4 g6 7 Nc3 Bg7 8 Be3Ne7 9 Rc1 h6 10 a3 0-0 11 b4 g5 Hippo setup

12 d5 Ng6 13 Nd4 Qe7 14 Re1 Nde5 15 Bf1 white avoids the exchange of bishop for a knight ….c5 now that black king has castled to Safety, its time to open up center NKC

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16 dxc6 Nxc6 17 Ncb5 Rfd8 18 f3 Be5 19 Nxc6 Bxc6 20 Nd4 Bb7 21 Qb3 Qf6 22 Rcd1 h5! Black presses attack on white’s kingside with pawn push to open up files 23 Nb5 g4 black wants to use f & g files for attack 24 Bd4 Bxh2+! Black queen & rooks can easily get into action on g-file as well as black has strong knight to jump to f4 to help in attack & black’s b7 bishop is waiting for diagonal to get open by pawn exchange, thus black has an attack after bishop sacrifice 25 Kxh2 Qh4+ 26 Kg1 g3 27 Bd3 Nf4 28 Re2 d5 29 cxd5 exd5 30 e5 Ba6 31 Kf1! King moves to safety …Rac8?! 32 Ke1? Rc4!! Rc4 opens up the center or d-file for black attack thus getting white king into mating net, it cuts of d3 bishop and b5 knight connection, and if BxR then dxB will attack white queen where it has to move or capture the pawn and then black can remove f4 knight out of the way by say Ne6 thus Black going an exchange down by giving c4 rook for b5 knight but goes up in position & momentum. 33 Bxc4 dxc434 Qe3 Bxb5 35 e6 Nxe6 36 Kd2 avoids blacks Qh1+ …c3+ 37 Kxc3 Bxe2 Black goes a piece up and game winning position

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0-1

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Here are few hippo defense games played by some of the best players at international stage [Event "World Blitz Championship 2007"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Kamsky, Gata"] 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 b6 4. Be3 Bb7 5. Qd2 e6 6. h4 h6 7. f3 d6 8. O-O-O Nd7 9. g4 a6

10. Bd3 b5 11.Nge2 b4 12.Na4 a5 13.b3 Ne7 14.f4 Nf6 15.Bb5+Kf8 16.Ng3 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Bxe4 18.Rhe1 h5 19.f5 gxf5 20.gxf5 Bxf5 21.Bg5 f6 22.Bf4 Nd5 23. Bc4? Nxf4

24. Kb1 Bh6 25.Rf1 Nd5 26.Qe1 Ne3 27.Rxf5 exf5 28.Be6 Nxd1 29. Qxd1 Qe8 30.d5 Qg6 31.Qd4 Kg7 32.a3 Qg4 33.Qd3 Rhe8 34.Qb5 Re7 35.Qc6 Rb8 0-1

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[Event “World Championship 1966 "] [White "Tigran Petrosian"]

[Black "Boris Spassky"]

(Game 12)

1.Nf3 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.d4 d6 4.Nc3 Nd7 5.e4 e6 6.Be2 b6 7.O-O Bb7 8.Be3 Ne7 9.Qc2 h6 10.Rad1 O-O

11. d5 e5 12.Qc1 Kh7 13.g3 f5 14.exf5 Nxf5 15.Bd3 Bc8 16.Kg2 Nf6 17.Ne4 Nh5 18.Bd2 Bd7 19. Kh1 Ne7 20.Nh4 Bh3 21.Rg1 Bd7 22.Be3 Qe8 23.Rde1 Qf7 24.Qc2 Kh8 25.Nd2 Nf5 26. Nxf5 gxf5 27.g4 e4 28.gxh5 f4 29.Rxg7 Qxg7 30.Rg1 Qe5 31.Nf3 exd3 32.Nxe5 dxc2 33.Bd4 dxe5 34.Bxe5+ Kh7 35.Rg7+ Kh8 36.Rg6+ Kh7 37.Rg7+ Kh8 38.Rg6+ Kh7 39.Rg7+ 1/2–1/2

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[Event “World Championship 1966 "] [White "Tigran Petrosian"]

[Black "Boris Spassky"]

(Game 16)

1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Be2 e6 5.c3 Nd7 6.0–0 Ne7 7.Nbd2 b6 8.a4 a6 9.Re1 Bb7 10.Bd3 0–0

12. Nc4 Qe8!? 12. Bd2 f6!? 13. Qe2 Kh8 14.Kh1 Qf7 15.Ng1 e5! 16. dxe5 fxe5 17.f3 Nc5 18. Ne3 Qe8 19.Bc2 a5 20.Nh3 Bc8! 21.Nf2 Be6 22.Qd1 Qf7 23.Ra3 Bd7 24.Nd3 Nxd3 25. Bxd3 Bh6 26.Bc4 Qg7 27.Re2 Ng8! 28.Bxg8! Rxg8 29.Nd5 Bxd2 30.Rxd2 Be6 31.b4 Qf7 32. Qe2 Ra7 33.Ra1 Rf8 34.b5 Raa8 35.Qe3 Rab8 36.Rf1 Qg7 37.Qd3 Rf7 38.Kg1 Rbf8 39. Ne3 g5 40.Rdf2 h5 41.c4 Qg6 42.Nd5 Rg8 43.Qe3 Kh7 44.Qd2 Rgg7 45.Qe3 Kg8 46. Rd2 Kh7 47.Rdf2 Rf8 48.Qd2 Rgf7 49.Qe3

1/2–1/2

So, Hippo defense has got its seal from many of the top grandmasters in the chess world, so it can be said that this defense is trust worthy if u have faith in yourself to play it with a true fighting spirit ready to handle even the though situation, fighting the battle till the end on a chessboard NKC

Page 28

Hussan,Mohamed Seif - Gaprindashvili,Nona [B00] 1. e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.0–0 d6 6.c3 e6 7.Bg5 Ne7 8.Nbd2 Nd7 9.Re1 h6 10.Bh4 0–0

Here comes the Hippo! 11.e5 White take the initiative, utilizes space advantage, opens up diagonal for d3 bishop, opens up center for attack …dxe5! Closing the center is a typical follow-up after achieving the hippo structure, but what makes black to open up center is, white’s hanging piece bishop on d3 12. dxe5 g5! White bishop on h4 was pinning the black queen and attacking black’s e7 knight thus forcing black queen to defend its e7 knight, now g5! Attack black bishop and forces it to move thus black queen is freed up and now white’s d3 bishop is dangerously hanging, and it is as good as gone although if white plays Bg3 then black just goes a little position up after the exchanges 13. Bxg5? Perhaps white thought he had attacking chances on black king with his queen and bishop, thus may have decided to give up bishop for 2-pawns, opening up black king for an attack …hxg5 14. Nxg5 Nf5! Opening up diagonal d8-h4 for black queen 15. Qh5 mate threat …Bh6 black blockades 16. Nxe6! again a knight for 2 pawns …fxe6 17. Qg6+ Bg7 18. Qxe6+ Blacks f5 knight hangs...Rf7 blacks rook interfere the white queen’s attack 19. Bc4? Nh6! White made the fatal error, capturing f5 knight could have kept the hopes alive 20. Qg6 Kf8 21.Bxf7 Nxf7 22.Qc2 Bxe5 23.Rad1 Qh4 24.Nf1 Re8 25. Re3 not Rxd7? Which led’s to mate for white with Bxh1+! …Re6 26. Rde1 Qg5 27.f3 Rg6 28.Qf2 Bd6 29.h4 Qf6 30.b4 Bf4 31.Rd3 Nde5

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NKC

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Now here are my few games on the Hippo defense, I have to say that this defense has served me well with a lot of positive results and it really takes your opponent out of his textbook, just the kind of battleground that we want! Game 1:

[Event "Friendly Game, 5m + 3s"]

[White "Guest27386"]

[Site "Café"]

[Black "DARINGDAVE"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "A40"]

1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 e6 4.c4 d6 5.Nc3 Ne7 6.Nge2 Nd7 7.O-O a6 8.a4 g6 9.Be3 Bg7 10. f3 h6

11. Qd2 g5 planning Ng6-Nf4 12.Rad1 f5 initiates kingside attack by striking the center, planning Nf5 and exchanging it for bishop and getting pawn chain f, g , h and clearing f6 square for queen 13.exf5 exf5 14.b4 f4! White wants to counter blacks early kingside attack with his own queenside attack, now f4 attacks e3 bishop and planning kingside attack 15.Bf2 O-O black king is safe here 16.d5 Ne5! Knight in the center, on an outpost, attacking white bishop thus making black king more safe on white squares 17.Ne4 Bc8! Activating bishop and adding one more piece in the attack 18.Bd4 Nf5! Attacks whites d4 bishop and also eyeing e3, h4 squares as both knights are dangerous in center 19.Rde1 Qd7! C8-h3 diagonal 20.Qc3 Nh4! Eyeing g2 pawn, to open up white castle 21.c5 Nxg2! 22.Kxg2 Qh3+ 23.Kh1 Nxf3! Mate threat on h2 square 24.Rxf3 forced move…Qxf3+ 25. Kg1 Bh3! And game over for white {Guest27386 abandonne (Lag: Av=0.54s, max=1.0s) 0-1

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Game 2:

[Event "Friendly Game, 6m + 0s"]

[White "Guest128708"]

[Black "DARINGDAVE"]

[Site "Café"] [Result "0-1"]

[ECO "B00"]

1. d4 b5 2.e4 Bb7 3.Bd3 a6 4.Nf3 d6 5.O-O e6 6.Qe2 Nd7 7.Rd1 g6 8.c3 Bg7 9.Nbd2 h6 10.Nf1 Ne7

11. Ng3 O-O 12.a3 Kh7 13.h4 Ng8 14. h5 g5 15.e5+ Kh8 16.exd6 cxd6 17. Nh2 Ndf6 activating knight and taking control of g4 square 18.f4 gxf4 19.Bxf4 Nd5 20.Bd2 Qh4 21.Qg4 Qxg4 22. Nxg4 f5! Initiating kingside attack with gaining space & tempo by attacking white g4 knight 23. Nf2 f4 24.Nge4 Rad8 25. Re1 e5! Time to open up center as d8 rook controls the d-file 26. dxe5 dxe5! 27. Nc5 Ba8 28.Rad1 Ngf6! Black has more active pieces than white 29.Nfe4 Nxh5 30.Bc1 Rg8! Taking control of open file for attack 31. Nxa6 Bf8 32.Bxb5 f3! Attacking g2 pawn, white capturing wing pawns is a useless activity when his king is dying in the center 33.g3 Nxg3 34.Nxg3 Rxg3+ 35. Kf2 Rg2+! Decoying king by giving a bait of f3 pawn

36. Kxf3 Nxc3+! Discover check; discover attack on bishop by black c3 knight and also double attack on white’s d1 rook by black’s c3 knight and d8 rook 37.Ke3 Nxd1+ 38.Rxd1Rxd1 39. Nc7 Bc5# {(Lag: Av=0.71s, max=1.3s) 5} 0-1 NKC

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Game 3 :

[Event "Friendly Game, 5m + 3s"]

[White "Guest1057023"]

[Site "Café"]

[Black "DARINGDAVE"] [Result "0-1"]

[ECO "A04"]

1. Nf3 b6 2.h3 Bb7 3.d4 e6 4.Qd3 g6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Nc3 d6 7.Bg5 Ne7 8.Be2 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Nd7 11.d5 e5 12.O-O a6 a watchful, active hippo ready to be unleashed! I decided to keep center closed with e5! Because white had active pieces, dominating in center and black king is still in center waiting for right moment to castle

13. h4 white wants to open blacks kingside …Ng6 planning Nf4 where if BxN would open up g-file for attack on white king 14.hxg5 hxg5! Opens up rook file, h-file for attack 15.Qd2 Nf4! Cuts off, white queens path to h, g, f files and if BxN then not only white loses his only active defensive piece on king side, the bishop; but also black gets strong pawn chain from c7 to f4 and g & h-files are open for attack on white king with blacks rook + queen 16.Bxf4 gxf4 17. Nh2? With that move white walks his king into the coffin; Nf3 was protecting the all important h4 square, thus avoiding black’s queen to enter into attack directly, I was planning Qf6-Qh6 if white had knight on f3 square… Qh4 what else? 18. Ng4 Qh1# 0-1

A simple game but very effective, black uses open h-file and active pieces for attacking white king. So your opponent can’t rest even for a second of time when facing a hippo; one slight slip and hippo is all over him!

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Game 4: [Event "Friendly Game, 3m + 5s"] [White "Georgie D"]

[Site "Café"]

[Black "DARINGDAVE"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "B00"]

1. e4 b6 2.Nf3 Bb7 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 e6 5.Bb5+ Nd7 6.Bg5 Ne7 7.O-O a6 8.Ba4 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 b5

11. Bb3 Ng6 12. d5 e5 closes the center and black is strong on black squares 13. h3 Nf6… Nh5! In mind with both black knights strong on kingside 14. Qe2 Nf4! Attacking white queen and closing black squares for white to enter 15. Bxf4 gxf4! Creates strong pawn chain and opens up g-file for black to attack white king 16. Nh4 Bc8! Rg8 in mind pinning whites g2 pawn and then Bxh3! 17. g3?Bxh3 18.gxf4? Rg8+ 19. Kh2 Bg4 20. f3 Nxe4! Clears d8-h4 diagonal for black queen to trap white king in mating net 21. Qxe4 Qxh4+ 22.Kg2 Bf5#

{(Lag: Av=0.44s, max=0.6s) 1}

0-1

Bf5# NKC

Page 34

Game 5:

[Event "Friendly Game, 3m + 2s"]

[White "Guest130912"] [Black "DARINGDAVE"]

[Site "Café"] [Result "0-1"]

[ECO "B00"]

1.e4 b6 2.Nf3 Bb7 3.Bc4 a6 4.d3 e6 5.Bb3 d6 6.c3 Ne7 7.Nbd2 Nd7 8.Nf1 g6 9.Ng3 Bg7 10. h3 h6

11. h4 Nc5 12.Bc2 Qd7 13. h5 g5! Controlling Black Squares and keeping file closed 14. Qe2 O-O-O! White has no attacking piece on queenside, so black king is safe 15. Be3 f5! Hippo is coming to get white king 16. exf5 exf5 17.Bxc5 dxc5 18. O-O Rhe8! Threatening white queen 19. Qd2 Qc6! Queen +bishop battery attacking g2 pawn 20. Rae1 g4! Clearing the square or removing the defender of g2 square 21. Nh4 Bf6! 22. f3 Bxh4 23. Nh1 {Guest130912 resigns (Lag:Av=0.48s, max=0.8s) 12}

NKC

0-1

Page 35

Game: 6

[Event "Friendly Game, 5m + 3s"]

[White "Guest504847"]

[Black "DARINGDAVE"]

[Site "Café"] [Result "0-1"]

[ECO "A40"]

1. d4 b6 2.c4 Bb7 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4 e6 5.f4 Ne7 6.Nf3 g6 7.Bd3 Bg7 8.O-O a6

9. e5 d5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 Bxd5! Momentary outpost for bishop, now these exchanges are only helping black as this decreases the sharpness in white’s attack after pieces are off the board 12. Qe2 c6 13.b3 Nd7 14. Ba3! Stops black from kingside castle …b5! Stops white bishop from coming to c4, thus now black has strong bishop on d5 square 15. Rac1 Rc8 16. Ng5 a5 idea is to kick white’s a3 bishop and then castle to free up black king 17. Ne4! Bxe4 Black rightly exchanges his active bishop for white’s strong knight 18. Bxe4 b4 19.Bb2 Nb8 defending c6 pawn 20.Qf3 Qb6 21.Rc5 O-O 22.Rfc1 Rc7 23. Bxc6 Rfc8! Lining up rooks for attack 24.Bb7 Rxc5 25. Bxc8 Rxc1+! Decoys white’s b2 bishop from defense of d4 pawn 26. Bxc1 Qxd4+! 27. Qe3 Qd1+! Double attack 28.Kf2 Qc2+! Double attack {Guest504847 gibt auf} 0-1

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Game: 7 [Event "Friendly Game, 5m + 3s"] [White "Stalker1927"]

[Site "Café"]

[Black "DARINGDAVE"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "B00"]

1. e4 b6 2.Nf3 Bb7 3.Bc4 e6 4.d4?Bxe4 5.Nc3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 Nc6 7.O-O? Nxd4 8.Qd1 Nf5 9.Bf4 Nf6 10. Bg5 Be7 11.Qd2 h6 12.Bh4 g5 13.Bg3 Nxg3

Looking at the position, white looks a bit settled down position with active pieces even though he is 2 pawns down, whereas black position is some what awkward with king hanging in center and both rooks inactive, the only good thing is that black keeps the center closed 14. fxg3 d5! Its time.. 15. Bb5+Kf8 16. Rae1 a6 17. Bd3 Qd6 18.a3 Kg7 19.Ne2 b5 20.Nd4 Rag8! 21. Qa5 Kf8! Clearing file 22.b4 h5! 23. Nb3 white cant press attack on queenside as black queen is holding the black position tight, hence white plans Nc5! Outpost square for knight to break open blacks position …h4! Before white can attack, black strikes, threatening to open h-file and b8-h2 diagonal where black queen is ready to strike 24. gxh4 gxh4 25. Nc5 h3! When you attack then go all in and don’t hold back! Black’s kingside attack is more dominating than white’s queenside attack; the only reason is that, black’s king is in no harm from white’s attack; Black’s position is well defended as well as it is well attacking, Black queen is doing both the jobs of defending blacks position as well as attacking white’s position 26. g3 Rxg3+! After such a commanding position its time to finish of the job, thus sacrificing a rook to open up white’s castle 27. hxg3 Qxg3+ 28. Kh1 Qg2# {(Lag: Av=0.68s, max=1.1s) } 0-1

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Qg2#

Game: 8 [Event "Friendly Game, 5m + 5s"]

[Site "Café"]

[White "Guest28365"] [Black "daringdave"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A40"] 1. e4 b6 2.c4 Bb7 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 e6 5.g3 Ne7 6.Bg2 Nd7 7.Nge2 a6 8.O-O g6 9.Bg5 Bg7 10. b4 h6

11. Be3 g5 12.f4 Ng6! Black wants to open h-file 13. fxg5 hxg5 14. d5 e5 closing the center only to attack on flank 15. Qd2 Bh6 16.Na4 Qe7 17.Nec3 Nf6 …Ng4 in mind 18. Bxg5 Bxg5 19.Qxg5 Nh7 20.Qxe7+ Nxe7 21.c5 b5 22.Nb2 f6 23.c6 Bc8 24. a4 Rb8 25. Rf2 Bg4 26.a5 Kf7 27.h3 Bh5 28.g4 Bg6 29. h4 Nf8 vacating h7 square for bishop 30. Raf1 Double’s rooks on f-file for attack on black king Ng8 defends NKC

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31. h5 Bh7 32. Kh2 Ke7! Safe square 33.Kh3 Re8 34.Kh4 Kd8 35.Nd3 Re7 36.g5 Rf7 37. gxf6 Bg6 ! utilizing pinning advantage and activates bishop, now white’s h5 pawn falls; if white plays Bf3 to saveh5 pawn then black captures white’s f3 pawn with g8 knight putting more pressure on h5 pawn thus trapping white king on open h & g files with both black rooks active on them {Guest28365 resigns (Lag: Av=0.50s, max=1.8s) } 0-1

Bg6!

So you can see Hippo defense is a powerful defense indeed, and it will serve you well in crucial games, only you have to be a little accurate and able to handle the tension in the center momentarily and as the time proceeds you will actually feel your hippo defense getting more and more powerful!

NKC

Page 39

Finally here are some Hippo defense games from master level chess players: (1) Adams,N - Weissgerber,P

[B00]

Polch RL-op

1. e4 b6 2.d3 d6 3.Nf3 g6 4.Be2 Bg7 5.c3 Bb7 6.0–0 Nd7 7.Be3 e6 8.Nbd2 Ne7 9.d4 h6 10.Qc2 a6

11. Rad1 0–0 12.Rfe1 Qe8 planning f5! To strike the center, hence queen supports g6 pawn 13. Nf1 f5 14. exf5 Nxf5 attacking bishop and activating knight making it a powerful piece in the center 15.Bc1 rightly avoids the exchange and saving bishop pair for the endgame …Rf6 rook lift, getting ready to use f-file for attack by mounting major pieces on it (Major pieces: Queen and rooks) 16. c4 Qf7 17.b3 Rf8 18.Bb2 Bxf3! Start of an attack, target the weak f2 pawn 19. Bxf3 Nh4! 20.Bc6 Rxf2 21.Qe4 Rxg2+ 22.Qxg2 Nxg2 23.Bxg2 Qf2+! Double attack 24. Kh1 Qxb2 25.Rxe6 Rf2! 26.Bd5 Kh8 27.Rxg6 Qe2! Attacking white rook 28. Kg1 Qxd1! 29.Kxf2 Qc2+! Double attack

0–1

Qc2+! NKC

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(2) Manakova,Maria - Gaprindashvili,Nona [B00]

Antalya

1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.0–0 d6 6.Re1 e6 7.e5 Nd7 8.Bg5 Ne7 9.exd6 cxd6 10.Qd2 h6

11. Bf4 Bxf3! Opening the castle 12.gxf3 Nf6 13.Bb5+ Kf8 14.c4 Kg8 15.Nc3 Kh7 16. Ne4 Nf5 defending d6 pawn and eyeing h4 square 17. Bc6 Rc8 18.d5 e5 19.Be3 Nh5! 20.Ng3 Nh4! 21. Qe2 queen is forced to defend f3 pawn…Nf4! 22. Bxf4 exf4 23.Qe7 Nxf3+ 24.Kh1 Nxe1 25.Qxf7 fxg3 26.Rxe1 g2+! 27. Kg1 Qf6 28.Qd7 Rcf8 29. Re2 Rf7 30.Qg4 Re7 31.Bd7 Rxe2 32.Qxe2 Rf8 33.Be6 Qxb2 and now black is winning 34. Kxg2 white simply can’t stop Rxf2, white queen has to defend f2 pawn …Qxe2

0–1

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(3) Nascimento,Davi - Lima,Darcy

[B00]

Brasilia

1. e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 e6 4.Qe2 g6 5.f4 Bg7 6.Nf3 Ne7 7.Be3 d6 8.c4 Nd7 9.Nc3 a6 10.0–0 0–0

11. Rac1 c5! Striking the center at right time after completing the development 12. d5 exd5 there will be definitely exchange of pawns here even if black plays e5 thus in this case center cant be kept closed and if black doesn’t capture exd then black will have 2 weak backward pawns that will be dangerous 13. exd5 Re8! Taking control of semi open file with rook on it 14. Qd2 Nf6 eyeing g4 square 15.h3 Bc8 16.Nh2 b5! Black is ready for a combating the center thus want to exchange a wing pawn for a center d-pawn 17. b3 Nf5 18.Bf2 b4! Pushes white knight, on back rank, thus control on e4 square 19. Nb1? Ne4! You miss, I hit! 20. Bxe4 Rxe4 21.Rce1 Rxe1 22.Rxe1 Nd4! 23.g4 a5 24.Kg2 a4 25.Nf3 axb3! 26. Nxd4 bxa2! 27. Nc6 Qf8 28.Bh4 white can’t stop black from pawn promotion

NKC

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(4) Fidelity AG 9 - Blokhuis,E

[B00]

The Hague; AEGON

1. d4 b6 2.e4 Bb7 3.Bd3 d6 4.Nf3 e6 5.c4 Nd7 6.Qa4 Ne7 7.0–0 g6 8.Bg5 Bg7 9.Nc3 h6

10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Nb5 Qd8 12.Rfe1 0–0 13.Bc2 Kh7 14.Rad1 e5 15.dxe5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 black has improved his position by exchanging in center and now hippo has got a little bit strong and has 2 bishops active against white’s knight and bishop 17. Qa3 Bc8 on b7 square black bishop is inactive for the moment as a8-h1 diagonal is closed, so decides to move bishop to a better position 18. b3 Bg4 19.f3 Bd7 20.Rf1 Qh4 21. g3 Bxg3! White is defenseless against blacks mate if hxg3 22. Rd2 Bf4 23.Re2 Bh3 24.Rd1 Qh5 25.b4 a5 26. Rd5 axb4! 27. Rxh5 Rxa3 28.Rxh3 Rxa2 29.Nxc7 b3 30.Bd3 Rxe2 31.Bxe2 b2 32.Bd3 Rc8 33. Nd5 Rxc4! Bishop Decoy for pawn promotion 34. Kf2 Rd4 35.Bb1 Rd1 36.Nxf4 Rxb1 37.Nd3 Rf1+! And black can promote to queen and later win a white’s piece by double attack on white king and a piece as white king is now defenseless 38. Kxf1

NKC

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Page 43

(5) Gufeld,E - Gaprindashvili,Nona [B00] 1. e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.0-0 e6 6.c4 Ne7 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Re1 d6 9.Be3 Nd7

10. Qd2 e5! 11. Bh6 c5 12.d5? Kh8 13.Bxg7+ Kxg7 14.Nb5 Qb8 15.a3 Ng8 16.b4 Ngf6 17.Rab1 Ba6 18. g3 Rc8 19.Rbc1 Bxb5 20.cxb5 Rc7 21.Rc2 Qd8 22.Rec1 Rac8= 23.Qd1 c4! 24. Rxc4 Rxc4 25. Rxc4 Rxc4 26.Bxc4 Nxe4 27.Qc2 Nef6 28.Bb3 e4 29.Nd4 Ne5 30.Kg2 Qd7 31.Qe2 Qc8 32. Nc6 Nf3! 33.Qe3 Qf5 34.Qf4 Qh5 35.h4 Ne1+! 36. Kf1 Nd3 37.Qe3 Qf5 38.Kg2 Ng4 39. Qd4+ Kh6 40.Bd1 Ngxf2 41.Qe3+ Kg7 42.Qd4+ f6

NKC

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(6) Mancini,Mario - Spassky,Boris V [B00]

Corsica

1. d4 b6 2.e4 Bb7 3.Bd3 e6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Bg5 Qc8 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Qd2 d6 8.h4 h6 9.Be3 Nf6 10.0–0–0 Nbd7

11. Rhe1 a6 12.Bf4 Ng4 13.d5 e5 14.Bg3 Nc5 15.Kb1 f5 16.Nh2 f4 17.f3 Ne3 18.Rxe3 fxe3 19. Qxe3 Qd7 20.h5 gxh5 21.Bh4 Qf7 22.b4 Nd7 23.Nf1 Bf6 24.Bxf6 Nxf6 25.Ng3 Bc8 26. a4 Rg8 27.Nf5 Bxf5 28.exf5 Rxg2 29.f4 Rg8 30.fxe5 Ng4 31.Qe2 Nxe5 32.Bxa6 Rg4 33. Bb5+ Kf8 34.Ne4 Qxf5 35.Rf1 Rf4 36.Rxf4 Qxf4 37.c3 0–1

NKC

Page 45

(7) Siepenkoetter,Anita - Gaprindashvili,Nona [B00]

Wuppertal

1. e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Nc3 e6 4.a3 Ne7 5.Nf3 g6 6.Bf4 d6 7.Qd2 h6 8.h4 Bg7 9.0–0–0 Nd7 10.Bc4 a6

11. Nh2 b5 12.Ba2 Nf6 13.f3 Qd7 14.g4 0–0–0 15.Kb1 Kb8 16.g5 hxg5 17.Bxg5 Nh5 18. Nf1 Rdf8 19.d5 Nc8 20.Be3 Qe7 21.Ne2 exd5 22.exd5 Qf6 23.Nd4 Nb6 24.c3 Re8 25. Nh2 Qe7 26.Rhe1 Qd7 27.Nc6+ Bxc6 28.dxc6 Qf5+ 29.Ka1 Nc4 30.Bxc4 bxc4 31.f4 Qb5 32. Qg2 Re6 33.Bd2 Rhe8 34.Ng4 Nxf4 35.Rxe6 Nxe6 36.Qf3 f5 37.Ne3 Nc5 38.Nc2 Ne4 39. Qg2 Re6 40.h5 Qb3 41.Be1 g5 42.Rc1 Qb5 43.Qh3 Nc5 44.Rb1 Re2 45.h6 Nb3+ 46.Ka2 Bh8 47. Ne3 Nc1+

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Page 46

(8) Cabana,Gilbert - Day,Lawrence

[B00]

Quebec op

1. e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Nc3 e6 4.a3 d6 5.Nf3 Nd7 6.Be2 a6 7.0–0 g6 8.Re1 Bg7 9.Bg5 Qb8 10.Qd2 h6

11. Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 Ngf6 13.e5 Nh5 14.exd6 Nxg3 15.fxg3 cxd6 16.d5 Qc7 17.dxe6 fxe6 18.Bd3 Qc5+ 19. Qe3 g4 20.Qxc5 Nxc5 21.Bg6+ Ke7 22.Nh4 Bd4+ 23.Kh1 Bxc3 24.bxc3 Kd7 25.Rab1 b5 26. Bh5 Be4 27.Bxg4 Bxc2 28.Ra1 Rhe8 29.Bf3 Rac8 30.g4 d5 31.Re3 Nd3 32.h3 Rxc3 33.Kh2 Kd6 34. Bd1 Bxd1 35.Rxd1 Nb2 36.Rxc3 Nxd1 37.Rc2 Ne3 38.Rc1 d4 39.Nf3 e5 40.Kg1 Nc4 41. Nh4 d3 42.Nf5+ Ke6 43.Nxh6 Rd8 44.g5 d2 45.Rd1 Ne3

NKC

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Page 47

(9) Polak,J - Filip,F

[B00]

Praha

1. e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bd3 d6 6.Bg5 Nd7 7.Qd2 Ngf6 8.Bh6 0–0

9. h4 c5 10.d5 Re8 11.h5 Ng4 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.Qg5 Ndf6 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.Rh4 Rh8 16.Rxg4 Nxg4 17. Qxg4 Rh1+ 18.Bf1 Ba6 19.Nd2 Bxf1 20.Nxf1 b5 21.Qg5 Qa5 22.Qd2 Rah8 23.Nb1 Rxf1+ 24. Kxf1 Qxd2 25.Nxd2 Rh1+ 26.Ke2 Rxa1 27.a3 Ra2 28.c4 Rxb2 29.cxb5 Rxb5 30.Nc4 Rb1 31. e5 dxe5 32.Nxe5 Ra1 33.Nc6 Rxa3 34.Nxe7 Kf6 35.Nc6 Ra6 36.Kd3 Rxc6 37.dxc6 Ke6 38. Kc4 Kd6 39.c7 Kxc7 40.Kxc5 f5 41.Kd5 Kd7 42.Ke5 Ke7 43.Kd5 Kf6 44.Kd6 f4 45.Kd5 Kf5 46. g3 Kg4 47.Ke4 a5

NKC

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Page 48

(10) Lanc,Alois - Denk,Adolf

[B00]

St Poelten

1. e4 e6 2.d4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.a3 Ne7 5.Nge2 g6 6.Bf4 d6 7.Qd2 h6 8.0–0–0 Nd7 9.h4 Bg7 10.f3 a6

11.Be3 h5 12.Nf4 Nf6 13.Nh3 d5 14.e5 Nd7 15.Ng5 c5 16.f4 Nf5 17.Be2 Ng3 18.Rh3 Nxe2+ 19.Qxe2 Qe7 20.g4 0–0–0 21.gxh5 Rxh5 22.Qf2 Kb8 23.Ne2 Rc8 24.Ng3 Rhh8 25.h5 cxd4 26.Bxd4 Bxe5 27.Bxe5+ Nxe5 28.Qxb6 Nc4 29.Qd4 e5 30.Qf2 f6 31.hxg6 fxg5 32.Rxh8 Rxh8 33.f5 Qf6 34.c3 Rh4 35.Qc5 Rh8 36.Qf2 g4 37.Rh1 Rxh1+ 38.Nxh1 d4 39.Ng3 Ne3 40.Nh5 Qxf5 0–1

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Conclusion: I think this defense is rightly named the Hippo defense, because hippo is not an animal to be messed around with and so is this defense! Hippo defense; not only adds a surprise element but also is strong, flexible, reliable, razor-sharp,fighting defense that definitely demands to be added to your repertoire As hippo is a little lazy animal and also naturally aggressive animal when bothered; it definitely does not allow anybody to come too close to it, and if that happens then hippo is aggresively ready for a deadly strike Similarly is the nature of this defense; lazy at start of the game, but when enemy comes closer around its marked terittory, then this defense has got deadly sting to crush the opponents However; a little care must be taken while playing this defense against stronger opponents, as I said hippo is lazy to strart with, your opponent will get a strong center but accurate logical move order by black will definitely hold white back and as time moves along hippo will grow up in power and shape and ultimately decide the game If played correctly, I assure you this defense will serve you well! So, what are you wating for?

UNLEASH THE HIPPO!

About Me: Myself, Nitin Chatur working in the field of Mechanical engineering is a professional chess player now-a-days. I started playing chess at age of 24, initially playing in college I almost lost every time I played chess & my friends taunted & treated me as a loser, it was only then I decided to punch them back by improving my mental strength & sharpening chess playing skills. So taking some time off my studies, I started learning chess to play systematically, I improved slowly but surely, this also improved my interest in chess day by day and finally after a fair amount of time I was good enough to compete with those idiots, Amazingly I knocked them off by becoming College Chess champion for the year 2009; at college annual sports, during my final year before graduating. Please suggest me improvements, ideas, your expectations that I can add for my upcoming books. My E-mail: [email protected]

My other eBooks: Self-writing & Self-publishing, E-books! My Stunning Chess Games!! NKC

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Glossary Active piece: A piece that is developed and is actively participating in the conduct of the game. Active pieces provide the basis for attack. Back rank: A player’s own first rank. Back rank mate: Checkmate deliver by playing a queen or rook to an opponent’s back rank when the king is kept from moving out of check by its own pawns. Closed game: A game in which the center is closed, the piece that has the best mobility is the knight in such positions. Capture: The act of moving one of your pieces to a square occupied by one of your opponent’s pieces, thereby removing your opponent’s piece from the board. Once a piece is captured, it is gone for the rest of the game. Check: Refers to when the king is attacked. When the opponent threatens to capture the king on his next move, the king is “in check.” Castling: A special move for the king, under certain circumstances, the king can move two squares to the left or right towards one of the rooks, and then place that rook on the square immediately next to it on the opposite side. Checkmate: Refers to when the king is attacked, and there is no way to prevent it from being captured in the next turn. Checkmate ends the game; the player whose king is checkmated loses the game. Clearance sacrifice: To sacrifice a piece in order to vacate the square it was standing on. Development: Moving a piece out early in the opening to a square where it will play a more active role. Deflection: Refers to when one piece is forced to move away from a square where it is needed for some reason. When it happens, the piece is deflected from its square. Discovered check: The check that results because one piece moves & the piece behind it gives check. Double check: Refers to when the king is put in check by two pieces at once. Discovered attack: The movement of a piece or pawn that results in an attack by an unmoved piece, The stationary piece is now able to attack, because the piece that was moved previously blocked the attack. Double attack: A simultaneous attack by a single piece or pawn on two pieces of the opponent. (Fork) En passant: Refers to a special pawn capture, where one pawn captures another that has advanced two squares to land on the square immediately to its left or right. On the very next turn & only on the very next turn the pawn may capture the enemy pawn as though it had advanced only one square. Exchange: Giving up a rook (more valuable piece) for a bishop or knight (less valuable piece than a rook) File: A vertical row of squares. The chessboard has eight files. Fianchetto: The placement of a bishop on b2 or g2 for white & b7 or g7 for black. Moves played on flank.

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Gambit: Any opening that contains a planned sacrifice of material, usually to promote rapid development or control of the center. Major pieces: Queen, Rook.

Minor pieces: Bishop, knight.

Mating net: A position where one player has mating threats Open file: A file that is either completely or relatively cleared of pawns & pieces, so that if a rook were posted on the file it would control all or most of the squares along it. Outpost: A safe square near enemy territory that is protected by one’s own pieces and is subject to effective occupation. Rook Lift: Developing rook on a vertical file thus lifting it up Passed pawn: A pawn that no longer can be captured or blocked by another pawn so long as no power changes files by capturing Pin: A piece or pawn that is immobilized because it stands between its king & an opponent’s piece that would otherwise be attacking the king. Pawn Promotion: When a pawn reaches the eighth rank, it must immediately become a piece of its own color (except a king) at the player’s choice, regardless of what pieces he or she may still have on board. Generally, a player will promote a pawn to a queen. Resign: To admit defeat of a game before being checkmated. Sacrifice: To deliberately give up material to achieve an advantage. The advantage gained may be an attack, a gain of tempo, greater board control etc. Skewer: An attack on a piece that results in the win of another, less valuable piece that is on the same rank, file, or diagonal after the attacked piece is moved. Strategy: The overall, long range plan for a chess game. Tactic: A move or sequence of moves played to achieve some goal, such as the win of material or mate. Tempo: Losing a tempo is disadvantageous. The best method of gaining time is to develop with a threat. Trap: A move whose natural reply results in a disadvantage to the replying player. Transposition: Occurs when a position (usually an opening position) is arrived through a different order of moves than normal. Under promotion: The promotion of a pawn to a piece other than a queen. Variation: It is a different or unusual move played, which is not expected in a particular position. Clearance sacrifice: A sacrifice intended to clear a square for another piece.

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Nitin .K. Chatur NKC

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