Table of Contents
Explanation of symbols 6
Preface 7
The Hippopotamus in 60 seconds 9
Layout of the book and study method 10
Stage 1 Flash 11
Chapter 1 Introduction to the Hippopotamus system 12
Chapter 2 A universal defence or not? 15
Chapter 3 The idea behind the Hippopotamus defence 21
Chapter 4 Why play the Hippopotamus? 23
Chapter 5 Hippopotamus or semi-Hippopotamus? 25
Chapter 6 The strategic elements of the Hippopotamus 30
Chapter 7 The significance of the Hippopotamus moves 46
Chapter 8 The significance of the semi-Hippopotamus moves 53
Chapter 9 Three famous Hippopotamuses 58
Stage 2 Reflection 65
Chapter 10 History and development of the Hippopotamus 66
Chapter 11 How to classify Hippopotamus games 76
Chapter 12 Instructive games 81
Section 1 From the king's centre to a King's Indian centre 82
Section 2 From the king's centre to a French centre 107
Section 3 From the classical centre to a Sicilian centre 122
Section 4 From the classical centre to an open e-file 132
Section 5 From the classical centre to an open d-file 138
Section 6 Extended 3-pawn king's centre (Austrian Attack) $$$f4+$$$e4+$$$d4 146
Section 7 Attack with the h6$$$+g5$$$ and attack with the a6$$$+b5$$$ 165
Section 8 Using the f5$$$ 181
Section 9 Extended 3-pawn queen's centre $$$e4+$$$d4+$$$c4 188
Section 10 Benoni structures 207
Section 11 4-pawn centre $$$c4+$$$d4+$$$e4+$$$f4 211
Section 12 1-pawn centres 218
Section 13 The Super-Hippopotamus 237
Stage 3 In depth 245
Chapter 13 Elements of advanced strategy 246
Chapter 14 Theory 258
Section 1 Theoretical problems in the 2-pawn centre (classical centre) 259
Section 2 Theoretical problems in the 3-pawn centre (Austrian Attack) 266
Section 3 Theoretical problems in the 3-pawn queen's centre 275
Chapter 15 Mistakes to avoid 281
Chapter 16 Complex games 291
Points to remember when building a repertoire 313
Repertoire with 1…g6 314
Repertoire with 1…b6 315
Index of players 317
Bibliography 320