ErictheRed wrote on 10/16/12 at 20:20:38:


And this is the one of the main things I have to remember is that having patience does not equal boring!  It's like setting your pieces up for a little longer before boom!  and you get exciting positions when it opens up and even if it stays closed you can play some amazing games also, the second game in Emms new book in the hedgehog position is a perfect example of this kind of play. and I like positions without massive axchanges early in the game, I like to play an actual middlegame with pieces!

I have a feeling that I am not used to playing such structures as the hedgehog, but that it is one of those things that if you put in the work, you get back good results, and like I said before I guess you need a little patietence.  Again looking at the master games and reading the intro tho Shipov's book, its like delveloping your pieces behind your pawn chain as black like winding up a spring or somwthing and then Wham!  The position openins up and you go from a positional cat and mouse to sometimes a full blown tactical battle where all of your pieces spring to life.  And other times you slowy better your position while you wait for white to show his hand.  the Hedgehog is very interseting.  I saw one game where the king went to h8 the f rook went c8, the queen back to d8 from c7 then to g8 and then g5, followed by a very tactical game in which black really hammered his opp.  So I bet you could learn a lot about chess in general from studying the Hedgehog not just the opening!

No problem! Btw, the Hedgehog set-up maybe isn't the most dangerous try theoretically, but it is solid and Black has to time the counterplay well. I also like the plan with the advance of the h-pawn.

I have the book the Hedgehog 2 by Shipov, but haven't actually started reading it. However, I think it would be a good addition to Play the Kan by Hellsten.

Gilchrist is a legend wrote on 05/13/12 at 20:31:38:


This is the position discussed



13...h5 is indeed the recommendation of Hellsten in his book, but I also see no major problems for black after 13...Ngf6!?


Sjugirov (2412)-Caruana (2421) 1-0, 2006
13...Ngf6 14.Bh6 Bf8 15.Qd2 Bxh6 16.Qxh6 Rg8 17.f4 0-0-0
as in most variations of the Kan black is a little cramped and although he has no real weaknesses, the white position seems more straight forward to play

Popilsky (2372) - Lopez Martinez (2531) ½-½, 2008
13...Ngf6 14.Bh6 Ne5!? (also mentioned in Hellsten's book) 15.h3 b5! 16.f4 Nh5!? (16...Nc4 is unclear according to Shavtvaladze)
The position after 14...Ne5!? is still very rich and very much untouched territory. Is this because it's bad for black?

thanks everyone for your additional comments.  I looked at the thread Antilian sent, looks good.
Thanks,
Zatara

In his foreword, Hellsten says that previosly to his love for the sicilian structures he used to play the Caro-Kann and the Petroff. But there were moments when he felt a little bored with them. His choice of the Kan seems to generate more chances to play for a win.

One of his main lines goes 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. O-O d6 8. Qg4 g6 9. Qe2 Nd7 10. Nc3 Qc7 11. Bd2 b6 12. Rae1 Bb7 13. Kh1 h5 *
This is entertaining and unbalanced, I'd say. Hellsten's repertoire contains numerous situations where Black delays castling for a long time. I guess this is not everyone's cup of tea. And yet, the Kan is very often a positional and strategical opening. It definitely has less forced lines and less "theory" to memorize than some other sicilians.

On the other hand, White can go for 5.c4 and then Black according to Hellsten will answer with a hedgehog setup. Or take the symmetrical structures after 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 b5 7. O-O Bb7 8. Re1 Nc6 9. Nxc6 dxc6 as an example for a positional struggle ahead. Naturally, White decides much about how sharp this opening is.

So I find it impossible to say whether this opening is "sharper than the sharpest Accelerated Dragon lines". (BTW, what are the sharpest lines there? I'm under the impression that Accelerated Dragon lines tend to be so boring and drawish that even Tiviakov had switched to 1...d5 if he wants more than a safe draw...)