Whit's moves are mostly placeholders, but black's three moves are what defines the hippo. Can anyone find even one line that favors black?
The Hippo
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I looked it up and couldn't find any...... Sorry..... The "Hippo" doesn't have many lines to study primarily because it is fairly in efficient.
Nov 5, 2010
0
#3
Just wait, some GM will put out a book or video on "Black to play and win...The Hippo!" Soon we'll all be booked up on the main lines and will declare chess to be exhausted.
sorry, rdecredico, that isn't the hippo i'm talking about. That's a different opening named the same thing
Actually, no, a hippo is any opening that moves pawns to the third rank with pieces lining up behind them. Very passive, and dubious to some.
Guolin wrote:
Actually, no, a hippo is any opening that moves pawns to the third rank with pieces lining up behind them. Very passive, and dubious to some.
Wow! I never knew that! but it makes sense. All the hippos iv'e seen do that. Thanks! This thread's topic has just expanded!
Musikamole wrote:
Black can have a good game with this passive opening.
So this hippo can be used as a sort of hypermodern defense with the idea of targeting e5? Sounds like something to explore.
You quite often get players using the Hippo as White or Black.
It seems to be used commonly in short t/c blitz since although utterly snore-inducing, pretty much every one of the first 8 or 9 moves can be played on auto-pilot gaining a little time, albeit you might have to alter the move order.
Not my cup of tea at all, but this is the sort of position I've faced as Black:
pushwood47 wrote:
No, this is playing the hippo:
sorry, couldn't resist
That is absulutely hilarius!
Nov 6, 2010
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#11
Estragon wrote:
If you can achieve a playable game with Black with this stuff, you really don't need any openings advice from anyone here.
I need tons of opening advice.
However, I did find it amazing how Black could have a good game with this unorthodox opening against another strong player.
The Hippo did produce a draw between Petrosian-Spassky, World Championship 1966 (game 12). Enjoy.
Nov 6, 2010
0
#12
For those not familiar with The Hippopotamus Formation, here's a game with the Hippo played true to form, advancing each pawn to the third rank in the opening. It breaks every rule of opening principles I can think of, but White did win!
So yes, one can have a good game playing the Hippo. It also can be a tough nut to crack. One of my elementary students played this opening against me and I went into a deep think.
A pop quiz: Who has the better pawn structure, the soul of chess, after 8.h3? Does White have adequate compensation for falling behind in development?
This can be a deep discussion on chess principles, the meaty stuff, as there are many more unorthodox openings that may deserve a second look.
Has anyone mentioned this hippo?:
This is what I always thought of as the hippo before I found that hippo I introduced at the start.
Black Playes very defensively and hopes to irrestibly advance his pawns until white is all cramped up.
Yes, it's been mentioned...and it's the only version of the Hippo I know, actually. I've been giving it a whirl as Black...it seems pretty good actually (as a drawing weapon if nothing else), though at my level it's probably because my opponents haven't seen it often. The main weaknesses in it seem to be the a5-d8 and h5-e8 diagonals, as well as the c6 and f6 squares which can be problematic if White advances pawns to c5 or f5. And I have problems deciding whether to lock or open up the centre once White pushes d5 or e5; though either way seems to still usually be okay for Black (with some caveats depending on the position).
Oh, and I put all the Hippo games I could find on Wikipedia onto analysis boards here, if anyone's interested. Of course, the POV is probably biased in favour of the Hippo, but it seems to have led to some decent games by Black. The first game in particular apparently won a "Game of the Season" award.
Here is how a true 2600+ Grandmaster was totally outplayed by the Hippo in 18 movies whilst it takes 10 moves to obtain the Hippo set-up (e.g. outplayed in just 8 moves!) !?!?!?!?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE7udhhT1EI
Guolin wrote:
Actually, no, a hippo is any opening that moves pawns to the third rank with pieces lining up behind them. Very passive, and dubious to some.
I don't know where you got the definition from, but the Hippo is a flexible structure that takes about 10 moves to completely develop. It is marked by the push of every pawn up one space (except for the c and f files), placement of the knights in front of the king and queen, and fianchettoing of the bishop. Of course, there are variations to this-- you will rarely get a pure hippo, but the hippo is a very distinct opening; one can identify it from even the 5th move.