Chess openings sometimes acquire strange names. The hedgehog system of defense describes the idea of playing on three ranks, setting up a flexible defensive formation and waiting for the opponent to run aground against the “hedgehog spines.” The coming game is a perfect example of all the good things about the system. White thinks he has the initiative with his slight advantage in space and plays accordingly. He does not realize that Black lies in wait, ready to “rope that dope.” And as usual, once the Grandmaster gets even a glimmer of an opportunity, he takes it.
Gschnitzer (2427)-Lutz (2609) [A30]
Bundesliga 2006
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 c5
A prelude to developing on three ranks. Black anticipates d2-d4 after which he will reply ...cxd4, dissolving the centre.
4.Bg2 Bb7 5.Nc3 e6 6.0–0 Be7 7.d4
One of two moves if White wants to genuinely play for an advantage. With 7.d4 White opens the center, activating his Queen and hoping to tie Black down to the defense of his backward d-pawn. 7.Re1 is the other try, intending e2-e4. That’s another story entirely.
7...cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6
Why not 8...Nc6? It looks natural enough. Yet repeated practice has shown that White is at least a little better after 9.Qf4! Qb8 10.Rd1. A position is reached where it is virtually impossible for Black to play for a win and this is why most masters don’t go for it.
9.Bg5
Positional. White wants to take on f6 and then pile up against either d7 or d6, depending on what Black plays. He will have to cede the two bishops but hopes to station a Knight effectively on either b5 or e4, increasing the pressure.
9...a6 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Qd3
11.Qf4 is the other move, targeting d6 again. A representative sample might be 11...0–0 12.Rfd1 Be7 13.Ne4 Bxe4 14.Qxe4 Ra7 15.Nd4 Qc8 16.b3 Re8 17.a4 Qc5 =, Karpov-Kasparov, USSR 1981.
11...Ra7 12.Rfd1
Either this or 12.Rad1 which I must say I prefer. The idea of keeping the Rook on f1 is to play f2-f4 somewhere, but maybe that’s what the Hedgehog player wants anyway! Nevertheless, Greenfeld-Pasman, Beersheva 1984 continued 12...Be7 13.Nd4 Bxg2 14.Kxg2 Qc8 15.f4 g6 16.b3 (Extremely interesting is 16.f5!? gxf5 17.e4 fxe4 18.Nxe4 f5 19.Ng5! [19.Rxf5 exf5 20.Nxf5 Qc6!; 19.Nc3 Nc6 20.Qe2 Nxd4 =] 19...Bxg5 20.Nxe6 Qxe6 21.Rde1 Qxe1 22.Rxe1+ Re7 23.Qd4 Rg8 24.Rxe7+ Kxe7 25.Qxb6 Nd7 26.Qxa6, Tal-Short, Naestved 1985) 16...0–0 17.h4 b5 18.cxb5 Rc7 19.Rf3 e5? 20.Nd5!! Qb7 21.b6 Qxd5 22.bxc7 +-.
12...Be7 13.Nd2
Another natural series of moves is 13.Ne4 0–0 14.Rd2 Nd7 15.Rad1
This looks like it’s better for White, but over the next few moves Black gives an object lesson in sapping White’s strength and eventually takes the initiative himself! 15...Nc5 16.Nxc5 bxc5 17.Ne5 Qc7 18.Bxb7 Rxb7 19.Nf3 Rfb8 20.b3 a5 21.Qc2 a4 (Showing how rigid the queenside white pawn structure really is.) 22.Rd3 axb3 23.Rxb3 Rxb3 24.axb3 Qb6 25.Rb1 Ra8 26.Ne1 Bf6 27.Nd3 g6. Every Black piece is better than his White counterpart.
13...Bxg2 14.Kxg2 0–0 15.Nde4
A new move. Previously played was 15.Rac1 Rc7 16.Nf3 Qc8 17.b3 Nd7 (=) 18.a4 Nc5 19.Qb1 Rd8 20.Kg1 h6 21.h4 Qb7 22.b4 Nd7 23.Ne4 Nf6 24.Nxf6+ Bxf6 25.b5 Qc8 26.Nd4 Bxd4 27.Rxd4 e5 28.Rdd1 Rxc4 29.bxa6 Rxc1 30.Qxc1 Qxa6 31.Qc7 Rc8 32.Qd7 Ra8 33.Rxd6 Qxe2 34.Rxb6 Qe1+ 35.Kg2 Qe4+ 36.Kh2 Qd4 37.Qxd4, 1/2-1/2, Chernin-Dorfman, Lvov 1984.
15...Rd7
Calmly defending. We reach a deceptive position where White appears to hold an edge, but how should one make further progress? Black is quite content to garden his own back door and all is tidy at the moment.
16.Rac1
Maybe 16.Rd2 Nc6 17.b3 Qb8 18.Rad1, but even there Black is comfortable after 18...Rfd8.
16...Nc6 17.f4 Qb8 18.h4?!
Around here White starts to run out of good ideas. Perhaps he should get the draw offer in quickly, because in reality, he has no advantage. Note the no-man’s land on the fifth rank, typical of Hedgehog positions. Whoever has command of this territory usually gets the upper hand in Hedgehog battles. Black can break out with moves such as ...d6-d5! or ...b6-b5! whereas White is trying to prevent these breaks and at the same time drum up something himself.
18...Qb7 19.Kh2
Hurriedly vacating the long diagonal.
19...Rfd8
It looks like Lutz has ...d6-d5! in mind.
20.Ng5 g6 21.e4 Bf6
Again very calm. Black will not break open the position until he is absolutely ready, with his pieces on the best squares.
22.b3 Nb4 23.Qe2 h6 24.Nf3 Bg7 25.h5
He is afraid of the impending ...d6-d5 and tries to distract Black. But now Lutz starts to play very strong moves.
25...gxh5!
Unstereotyped, but White has to spend time regaining this pawn, which will in turn decrease his control of the centre. 25…gxh5 is a complex solution to the position. Note in the end how it is White’s King that gets hounded on the kingside open lines.
26.Nd4 Nc6 27.Nxc6 Qxc6 28.Rf1 Bxc3! 29.Rxc3 d5!
You could say this was the culmination of Black’s opening strategy.
30.Qxh5
30.e5 dxc4 31.Rxc4 Rd2 32.Rxc6 Rxe2+ 33.Kh3 Rxa2 34.Rxb6 Rdd2 35.Rh1 Rdb2 does not look too friendly for White, but he might be able to hang on for a draw. Rook endings depend almost exclusively on activity and here White is very passive. Meanwhile 30.exd5 exd5 31.Rd1 dxc4 32.Rxd7 Qxd7 33.Rxc4 Qg4! 34.Qxg4+ hxg4 35.Rc6 Rd2+ 36.Kg1 Rxa2 37.Rxb6 Kg7 leaves White toiling for a draw.
30...dxe4 31.Qxh6 f6!!
Excellent. White's King comes under direct threat.
32.Qxf6 Rh7+ 33.Kg1 Qc5+ 34.Rf2 Rd1+ 35.Kg2 Rh2+! 36.Kxh2 Qxf2+ 37.Kh3 Rh1+, 0-1. The final attack is easy work for a Grandmaster, but this does not diminish the achievement in this game. Black played perfectly.
Lest the last game gives an unbalanced impression, here is another recent tussle where White manages to crash through.
Malakhov (2670)-Nisipeanu (2707) [A30]
Benidorm, 2005
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.g3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0–0 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 9.Bg5
This seems like the move of the day. I wonder how long it will be before attention moves elsewhere? Certainly 9.Bg5 obliges Black to be accurate, but as we have seen and as we will see later in this game, there is no objective reason for Black to feel too threatened.
9...a6 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Qf4
Malakhov finds a different square for his Queen. The White position certainly looks less cluttered than after 11 Qd3, but I would be a little worried about 11...Bxc3.
11...0–0
11...Bxc3 has been played only rarely, perhaps thanks the influence of the following game, where Black never really got going: 12.bxc3 Bxf3 (Black’s problem is d6.) 13.Bxf3 Ra7 14.Rfd1 Rd7 15.Rab1 Qc7 16.Qd4! (He could not shore up all the weaknesses.) 16...0–0 17.Qxb6 Rc8 18.Qxc7 Rdxc7 19.Rxd6 Rxc4 20.Bb7 Rf8 21.Rb3 Ra4 22.a3 g6 23.Bf3 Rc4 24.Rdb6 Rcc8 25.Rb1 Kg7 26.a4 Nd7 27.Rxa6 Rxc3 28.Ra1 Ne5 29.Be4 Rfc8 30.a5 R8c4 31.f3 f5 32.Bb7 Rc1+ 33.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 34.Kf2 Ra1 35.Ra8 Ra2 36.a6 Nd3+ 37.Ke3 Nc5 38.Kd4 Rc2 39.Re8 Nb3+ 40.Ke3 Ra2 41.Rxe6, 1–0, Kramnik-Ljubojevic, Monaco 1998.
12.Rfd1 Be7 13.Ne4 Bxe4 14.Qxe4 Ra7 15.Nd4
The exchange of two pairs of minor pieces should help Black, who has less space, but he still has to be very precise. The pawn breaks ...d6-d5 and ...b6-b5 look a long way off and he has to be very careful that he does not get tied down to a game-long defense of the backward pawn. That is the Hedgehog player’s darkest nightmare.
15...Rc7
15...Qc8 appears slightly more accurate, intending to activate with ...Qc5 at some point. Even Anand could not make further inroads: 16.b3 Bf6 17.e3 Rd8 18.Qg4 g6 19.Rd2 h5 20.Qe2 Bg7 21.Rad1 Qc5 22.h4 Rad7
(White has only a nominal advantage now. The opposite-colored Bishops tend to move the game towards a draw.) 23.Bh3 Re7 (Unlike Nisipeanu, Adams is alert to the possibility of a sacrifice on e6.) 24.Qf3 Ree8 25.Qe4 d5?! (If Black continues maneuvering with 25...Nd7 there is little White can do. Now the game flares up!) 26.Nxe6! (Quite a move!)
26...dxe4 (26...Rxe6 27.Bxe6 dxe4 28.Rxd8+ Kh7 29.Rxb8 fxe6 30.Rd7 Kh6 31.Rbb7 is the splendid point of the combination. Black is lost.) 27.Rxd8 Qe7 28.Rxe8+ Qxe8 29.Rd8 Qxd8 30.Nxd8 Bf6 31.Nb7 Be7 (So White has won a pawn, but to win the game is something else. He first has to worry about his Knight!) 32.c5 (32.Bg2 f5 33.f3 exf3 34.Bxf3 Nd7 35.Kf2 Nc5 steers the game towards equality.) 32...Bxc5 33.Nxc5 bxc5 34.Bc8 Kg7 35.Bb7 f5 36.f3 exf3 37.Kf2 a5 38.Kxf3 Nd7 (It is doubtful whether the White King can reach b5 in peace.) 39.e4 Ne5+ 40.Ke3 c4! (Liquidating weaknesses.) 41.exf5 cxb3 42.axb3 gxf5 43.Ba6 Ng6 44.Be2 Kh6 45.Kd4 f4 46.gxf4 Nxf4 47.Bf3 Ng6 48.Kc5 Nxh4 49.Bxh5 Kxh5 50.Kb5 Nf5 51.Kxa5 Nd4 52.b4 Nc6+ 53.Ka4 Nxb4 54.Kxb4, 1/2-1/2, Anand-Adams, Sofia 2005. A superb fight.
16.b3 Bf6 17.e3 Nd7 18.Rac1 Qc8
The no-man’s land on the fifth rank is an interesting feature of Hedgehog position. Whoever commands more of this territory usually holds the advantage. Yet control and occupation are totally different ideas. Note that as soon as Black steps forward on to the fifth rank, he immediately gets downed by a tactic.
19.Rb1 Rc5?
19...Ne5 would have been very satisfactory: 20.f4 (20.Rd2 Rd8 21.Rbd1 Rc5 22.f4 d5! =) 20...Ng6 21.Bh3 Re8 =.
20.Nxe6!
Ouch! Black forgot about this one!
20...fxe6
Point being that after 20...Re5 White is much better: 21.Nxf8 Rxe4 22.Nxd7 Re6 (22...Qxd7 23.Bxe4 g6 24.Rd3) 23.Nxb6 Qc5 24.Nd5.
21.Qxe6+ Kh8 22.Bh3! Rd8 23.Rxd6 Ne5 24.Qxc8 Rcxc8 25.Rxb6
White sweeps away all the Black pawns.
25...Rb8 26.Rxa6 Nxc4 27.Bg2 Rd2 28.b4
The game becomes much easier to understand. It’s a simple case of pushing the queenside pawns all the way.
28...h5 29.b5 h4
29...Bb2 is an attempt to hold up the advance, but with care White consolidates: 30.a4 h4 31.Bf1 Na3 32.Re1 hxg3 33.hxg3 Nc2 34.Re2 Rxe2 35.Bxe2 Nb4 36.Rd6! +-.
30.a4 Nb2 31.b6 Nd3 32.b7 Nxf2 33.Ra8 Be5 34.Rb5, 1–0.
What can we do in an article other to provide a snapshot of current play and some encouraging words? Here’s a final game where Black takes over, almost miraculously it seems to me. White appears to have a fine position, but it goes downhill very fast.
Rosen (2310)-Bromberger (2481) [A30]
Bundesliga 2005-6,
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.g3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0–0 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 9.Rd1
An older main line that has been largely superseded by 9.Bg5. Nevertheless 9.Rd1 is natural, targeting d6 as usual.
9...a6 10.b3 Nbd7
Intending to answer 11.Ba3 with 11...Nc5
11.Bb2 Qc7 12.Rac1
All very logical, but Black is comfortable on three ranks. He continues with moves such as ...0–0, ...Re8, ...Rac8, ...Qb8 etc, waiting to see what develops.
12...0–0 13.Ng5
White exchanges light-squared bishops as a prelude to Ne4. You should be getting used to the idea of attacking d6 by now.
13...Bxg2 14.Kxg2 Rfd8 15.Nge4 Qb7 16.f3 Ne8
Another new move, this time covering d6 and g7. It looks a little passive, but turns out very well! 16...Nc5 appears well playable too. Perhaps it’s even preferable due to its active nature: 17.Nxc5 (17.Nf2 b5! is thematic. Black breaks free! 18.cxb5 axb5 19.b4 Ncd7 20.Ba1 d5 21.Nd3 Rdc8µ 22.Nb2 Ne8 23.e4 Bf6 24.Qd3 Bxc3 25.Rxc3 dxe4 26.fxe4 Ne5 27.Qd4 Rxc3 28.Qxc3 Qxe4+ 29.Kf2 Nf6, 0–1, Osterman-Gostisa, Bled 2002) 17...bxc5 (17...dxc5 18.Qe5 Ng4 19.Qf4 Nf6 =, Graeber-Heckoetter, Oberhausen 1999) 18.Qd3 d5 19.cxd5 Nxd5 20.Nxd5 exd5, 1/2-1/2, Dunsbach-Schutz, Luebeck 2001.
17.Rc2 b5!
It is amazing how a well timed ...b5 or ...d5 can completely disrupt White’s entire game plan in this type of position. The c4-pawn is very important to White because it restrains Black. So Black simply dissolves that pawn and with it any cramp that he may be experiencing.
18.cxb5 axb5 19.Nf2 Ne5 20.Qe4 Nc6 21.a3 b4
Black is much better now thanks to his more compact pawns.
22.axb4
22.Na4 d5 23.Qe3 bxa3 cannot help.
22...d5 23.Qf4 d4
23...e5 also seems good: 24.Qf5 (24.Qg4 d4 25.Nce4 Nxb4 26.Rcc1 Nd5) 24...g6 25.Qh3 Nxb4 26.Rcd2 d4 –+.
24.Na4 Nxb4 25.Rcd2 Nd5 26.Qxd4 Qxb3 (–+)
The Knight on a4 is short of squares.
27.Rd3 Qxa4 28.Qxa4 Rxa4 29.e4 Ra2! 30.Bc1 Bc5 31.Rf1 Nf4+, 0-1.
To summarize, the Hedgehog seems to be very playable for Black and an excellent way of countering the English and the other flank openings. The key points are: 1) Black maneuvers carefully on three ranks, waiting to see what develops. He must not take the game to White in the early stages. 2) Black’s d-pawn is his weakness. He has to be careful not to get that pawn nailed down. 3) The breakout moves are ...b6-b5! and ...d6-d5!, although careful preparation is usually needed before either becomes possible.
