I wouldn't play the Hedgehog for a win, but it certainly could be considered if all you need is a draw, or little losing chances with some prospects for a win against ambitious players. If white is completely unambitious he can just trade everything down quickly in numerous lines, resulting in a dry equality with little chances to make it interesting.

It's Van der Weide who writes at Silman's site.  Van der Wiel (aka "The Butcher") is somewhat older; he played in top-level events in the '80s.

MNb wrote on 09/19/08 at 02:22:08:


So it was Martin, anyway.  Van der Wiel, sorry.  Van der Wiel does write at Silman's site, I believe.

That PDF seems very interesting, I wish I knew German to read the comments, thanks for the link

@Markovich, there is less theory, in the form of concrete variations, but much more in the form of if-then-else statements

e.g. if Rc1 and Qc7 has been played then black should always watch out for a Nd5 tactical possibility, and when I say "watch out", I mean he has to sit there and calculate Nd5 in every move.

Move-order is another issue..
e.g In the mainline - what people call English Hedgehog, black should delay 0-0, because at some point he has to play the queen outta the d-file and qc7 is the place to go. But in order to do that safely, he has to play a6 before that. And if he has chosen to castle early, the tempos aren't enough for him, so in this case he plays Qc8, then a6, then Qc7 losing a crucial tempo.. If he tries to cheat keeping queen on c8, white creates a Be3+Qf2 battery pressurizing on b6.

I am lucky to have met a strong player recently and he has shown to me numerous examples like the above. The whole system is still beyond me, but I have the ambition to study and play it in the future.

Black has great winning chances from what I've seen so far. It is very easy for white to overextend and then black plays 1-2 pawn levers and suddenly his pieces become very active.

Quote:


I don't believe the Hedgehog would be as popular as it is at high levels if this statement were true.  Also I wish that there were fewer posts on this board in the vein of "Forget about system X, play my system!"

I have also embarked upon -- or more precisely, am planning to embark upon -- a study of this system.  I even got a copy of Oezh, or however it is pronounced, by that Russian player.  I forget his name, starts with an S.  Unfortunately I have no chess Russian, apart from being able to tell the names for Black and White.  But at least I can follow along with the moves.

There is some theory, which was sketched out by who, van der Weil? on Silman's website.  But I suspect that with this system, there is no substitute for playing over may games.  And this Oezh is more of a games collection, with many verbal discussions unfortunately in Russian, than a theory book.

No, the Hedgedog doesn't offer much for black, I am often on the white side, and my opponents often play it wrong and lose.
Black gets only winning chances if he gets to play e5 in the symmetrical, but white can deny this.

Play the KID if you want to have winning chances.

I don't play 1. d4 d5 openings and so when faced with 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4, I have to make more exotic attempts to get into similar positions, such as the Nimzo English after 2. ...e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 or venture into the Symmetrical English.

Lately, I've considered the Symmetrical English and specifically, the main line Hedgehog defense. The positions are cramped but with much latent energy. Although I am a bit concerned about what to do if White just sits on the position with his constraining space and doesn't aim for much more than solidity. Moreover, I see that many hedgehogs reach an late middlegame/early endgame quickly after a trade on g2 and a cascade of other trades as a result. Who do the endgames usually favor and how are Black's winning prospects here? My main goal is to use this as an independent winning try and this is the aspect I'm interested in. Will it offer any better winning chances than the Nimzo-English for example?

Unfortunately I have never played the Hedgehog (but I have played somewhat similar structures in the QID and Sicilian) so I am quite clueless. I appreciate all feedback about it and especially regarding its viability in a must-win situation.

BTW: By Hedgehog, I mean this kind of structure:

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O e6 6. Nc3 Be7 7. d4 cxd4 8. Qxd4 d6 9. Bg5 a6

White to move