The Hedgehog (S. Kasparov)

En oppdatert bok om de stadig aktuelle Pinnsvin-systemene (Hedgehog) som svart spiller primært mot Engelsk og Reti, men også noen ganger i Siciliansk. Fellesnevneren er at svart tidlig spiller c5, cxd4, b6, e6, d6 og gjerne a6.

Forlagets egen omtale:

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.

Sergey Kasparov was born in 1968 in the city of Baku. Since the age of seven, he has been engaged in chess section in the Palace of Pioneers – the same place where namesake and world champion Garry Kasparov was also taught. He has taken first place in numerous international tournaments and acquired the grandmaster title in 2007. He is now a leading on-line chess coach.

Fra forfatterens forord:

For those who are new to the Hedgehog, as is perhaps known, Black places his pawns next to each other on the sixth rank to take control of all the squares in front of them on the fifth rank. One can compare the structure to the spines of a hedgehog. Such lined-up pawns create a flexible structure so that the enemy always has to take into consideration the possibility of one of the ‘spines’ pr oducing some bite by moving forward.

Due to this analogy the pawn set-up a6, b6 , d6 and e6 is called the Hedgehog . Furthermore, Black’s strategy in the given structure is in a way similar to how a real hedgehog fights its enemies even when they are stronger . One is curled up or manoeuvring within one’s own camp, preparing for the right moment to counter attack.

A lot of water has passed under the bri dge since Sergey Shipov’s fine work The Complete Hedgehog was published earlier this century. New technologies make chess theory develop more and more rapidly. A novelty applied in, say, the Philippines might become public knowledge just few days later when the game a ppears in the database. In case of an online tournament broadcast, it becomes availa ble to the whole world even immediately.

I will try to share with you my own experi ences in the Hedgehog and supplement them with some topical and instructive games of st rong players which have been played since Shipov’s book appeared. Throughout, I have tried to choose the freshest examples available and to be original, of course, although in many cases modern practice proves that Shipov’s assessments were correct.

As in all my books, from the very beginning I kindly ask you to keep in mind that the author’s opinion doesn’t claim to be the absolute truth . I also didn’t aim to cover all the lines of the Hedgehog, since that would result in a much bigger book. From a philosophical stand- point, the deeper you move along the variations , the more questions you come up with. It means there is no limit for opening study, but the author and the publisher have to confine themselves to a certain scope. Besides, I guess the reader would be bored to follow too many ramifications some 25-30 moves deep.

Hence, I have focused on the lines which have occurred in my own praxis during the last few years and on the most important thematic general ideas, while trying to remain objective throughout. ...