Strategies Vol.3 4+

The Hedgehog

The complexity of those positions is best illustrated in a Kasparov-Kramnik game – with both players allowing seemingly “obvious” mistakes. Charbonneau-Anand is another good example – a player of Anand’s stature landing in a terrible position, then missing his good attacking prospects. The game result was one of the biggest upsets of 2006 Chess Olympiad. There are different types of Hedgehog positions - many of them coming from the English opening where the White bishop is fianchettoed. In this video course I consider the “basic Hedgehog” pawn structure; like the one coming from the Kan Sicilian for example. Choosing the right plan at the right time is the key here - the ensuing positions are full of dynamic possibilities. I endeavour to show the most common (and a few less common!) plans for both sides and try to pinpoint typical mistakes and motifs. The basic aim of this video is to improve understanding of these complex positions and to help tournament players score better!

• Video running time: 4 hours (English)
• Extra: Training - Play key pawn structures against Fritz on various levels

Hedgehog - Part 1
Introduction and Fischer vs Andersson
Black pushes the g-pawn: Charbonneau vs Anand
Regrouping: Kasparov vs Kramnik
h-pawn push: Topalov vs Kasimdzhanov
White fights the h-pawn push: Radjabov vs Kamsky
Aggressive ideas for White
White castles kingside and pushes the g-pawn: J. Van Foreest vs Bilguun
Kingside pawn roll: Cramling vs Gruenfeld
Hedgehog - Part 2
Dark square control: Tal vs Polugaevsky
White pushes the a-pawn: Agrest vs Nisipeanu
White pushes the a-pawn 2: Firouzja vs Vachier-Lagrave
Doubled-pawns: Acs vs Polgar
Doubled-pawns 2: Eljanov vs Kudrin
White castles queenside
Diagonal domination: Romanishin vs Petrosian
Diagonal domination 2
Pawn structure change: Carlsen vs Wojtaszek
Practice positions
Description
Position 1 - Black to move
Position 1 - White to move
Position 2 - Black to move
Position 2 - White to move
Position 3 - Black to move
Position 3 - White to move
Position 4 - Black to move
Position 4 - White to move
Position 5 - Black to move
Position 5 - White to move
Position 6 - Black to move
Position 6 - White to move

Ivan Sokolov is a Dutch chess Grandmaster and author of popular chess books. He was Yugoslav champion in 1988 and Dutch champion in 1995 and 1998. For more than two decades he has been on of the elite players and has beaten many of the strongest players in the world.