The Hedgehog

Sergey Kasparov

• Publisher: Popular Chess
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781781943601

An understanding of Hedgehog structures is an essential component in any chessplayer's knowledge. These structures arise when the black c-pawn is exchanged early on for the white d-pawn (as in the Sicilian Defence). White then adopts a formation with pawns on c4 and e4 and Black curls up in a Hedgehog formation with pawns on a6, b6, d6 and e6.These structures are important as they can arise from an extraordinary variety of openings including the Sicilian Defence, the English Opening and the Queen's Indian Defence. Play is usually highly intricate with White hoping to exploit the natural space advantage while Black remains solid and looks to break out of his or her carapace with the classical thrusts ...b7-b5 and ...d7-d5.• Everything you need to know about the Hedgehog systems.• The structure emphasizes plans and strategies.• Written by an expert on the opening.

Table of contents

• About the Author
• Introduction
• Section One: The English Hedgehog
• 1 White Plays Nxd4
• 2 White Plays Qxd4: Andersson Variation
• 3 White Plays Qxd4: Pressure on the d6-pawn
• 4 White Plays Qxd4: The Qd4-e3 plan
• 5 The System with 7 Re1
• Section Two: The Hedgehog with f2-f3
• 6 The Idea ... Nb8-c6!?
• 7 White’s Active Plans: the Advance of the a-pawn
• 8 White’s Active Plans: the Advance b2-b4
• 9 White’s Active Plans: Bf4xe5
• 10 Black’s Counterplay: ... Be7-d8-c7
• 11 Black’s Counterplay: ... g7-g5
• 12 Black’s Counterplay: Pushing the h-pawn
• 13 Unusual White Ideas
• Section Three: Rare Lines
• 14 Plans with the Bishop on d3
• In Conclusion
• Index of Complete Games
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