The Hedgehog Gambit

First, this gambit does not yet exist. It's just an idea I'm playing with for blitz games to throw my opponent off his/her game a bit. You see, to play the Hedgehog properly, White must cooperate by playing d4.

That doesn't always happen - even when I play the Sicilian or French. Players at my blitz rating hardly ever go for the pawn duo of e4/d4, even when I completely yield the center to them.

Rybka gives White a .06 advantage for this opening, which makes sense since Black has given up a pawn for no compensation that a computer could see. I see a psychological compensation.

The continuation from White is not 100% perfect - as I sometimes chose the 2nd move choice. I'd have to change it up a bit with the first engine choice, but then I wouldn't be able to show the classic Hedgehog, both the pawn and piece placement.

So, what do you think?

My first Hedgehog game on Live Chess. I didn't get to gambit my c-pawn because my opponent played some hyper-modern opening. At least you will see the classic Hedgehog structure in action.

Is it really worth a pawn to play a hedgehog?

Excellent question. Perhaps it could be worth a pawnif some compensation can be found outside of just "throwing someone a curve ball".

Do you know of any openings where there would be compensation for giving up the c-pawn?

My win in post two came easier than most of my other blitz wins - and it was my first time ever to use this pawn structure.

I've done some reading and was surprised to find out that world class players have used the hedgehog.