The Hippopotamus Defense is a CHEAT CODE!

[@TheChessGiant]

My 6+ Hour Hippo Course! thechessgiant.gumroad.com/l/hippopotamusdefensecourse

[@jasonharris6272]

Great course!!

[@faisalamanullah8585]

I don't have money 😢

[@frozendilemma]

I generally play attacking games with white and methodical, slow-paced games with black. Though Caro-Kann is my go to opening for black, I've been wanting to add a new slow burner opening to my black repertoire. Been investigating the Hippo for a while. I think it'll be a nice surprise for opponents who can't handle tight, locked spaces. Great stuff, S.

[@TheChessGiant]

Totally! Ya the Caro-Kann is super solid. And ya the Hippo is a good second option to look into, especially as it works against any first move that white plays. First moves are usually quiet, with us just developing, but from that point we have a lot of flexibility in terms of how we want to continue.

[@allanmarks2150]

I think this viideo was for me, one of the most useful video you have done on the Hippo.

[@TheChessGiant]

Thanks Allan! Glad you liked this one! You may also like the one coming out this week in which I analyze 5 hippo games from subs. Many good moves and mistakes as well to analyze.

[@joegreenwood86]

I bought your course and love it so far! What I love about the hippo is you get to instantly work on the middlegame because there's not much to remember before that. By far my favourite parts of your course are on the middlegame ideas. But re opening and especially combating the 3 central pawn setups, I wonder if you have ever tried starting with b6 rather than g6 which I personally love because you can then play e6 and often Bb4 to pin the knight protecting white's pawn on e4 (assuming white played d4 and e4 and threatens to get three central pawns) to clarify I mean something like 1 e4 b6 2 d4 Bb7 3 Nc3 e6 4 Bd3 Bb4,.... And then if f4 I like the aggressive and tricky f5, but the engine likes Nf6. Would love it if you could make a video examining this line as an alternative to starting with g6. It's fun anyway and maybe something you could explore to complement the hippo course. I like this even more reversed as white as you have the extra tempo and can go into some aggressive lines. Have you ever tried this line?

[@TheChessGiant]

Hey Joe! Super happy to hear you're enjoying the course brotha! And ya b6 is also a good way to start for sure. Ya so with this Bb4 idea you're looking to play an Owen's Defense, which is great. I've played the Owen's Defense a ton, and will sometimes fall back into the hippo if there's a line I don't like. The only downside of 1. b6 is that you can't get a quick a6 and immediate b5. It's a lot harder to play an early g5 in the hippo vs b5 as g5 is more weakening to our king safety. So I like kingside development because it makes a6 and b5 (sometimes with tempo against bishop on c4) very easy. However, there's nothing wrong at all with 1. b6 especially if you'd rather just get the traditional hippo setup as opposed to that pawn on b5. And, even when playing 1. g6, pulling off quick queenside expansion isn't always possible! Of course, the upside (as you eluded to) is that against an f4/e4/d4 pawn center we can go with an Owen's bishop pin idea with f5 ideas as well and it's a ton of fun for black. Potentially a little less scary then with only kingside pieces developed. Overall good thoughts thanks for sharing. Hope this helps! Solomon

[@joegreenwood86]

@@TheChessGiant Nice that's cool I didn't even know it was called the Owen's defence as I don't really bother with names but just open the lichess opening explorer and try out some ideas that I like the look of. I found I didn't like facing 3 pawns with hippo and found this pinning idea fun. For me as soon as the opponent is unable to get a 3 pawn centre I just slip into the hippo so it works well with minimal theory to remember, and if they do play 2 central pawns I get a dynamic position I'm probably more familiar with than them. Thanks for the thoughts and if you ever make a video on the Owens defence I'd like to see it and I'm sure some of your hippo subs would like it too.

[@peterthegreat996]

If Borris Spassky can play the “hippo,” in a world championship and beat Petrosian, well it’s ok for us plebes

[@TheChessGiant]

FACTS!

[@lordofcastamere9376]

Out of boredom. Even petrossian doesn't want that close and dull opening

[@TheChessGiant]

@@lordofcastamere9376 lololol

[@TheChessGiant]

You'd think so but in my course Petrosian played the Hippo himself with a nice win over Odil Sabitov 🦛 🦛 🦛

[@lordofcastamere9376]

@@TheChessGiant Karpov lost a game when his opponent Miles played 1..a6. Does that mean a6 is a good move

[@OregonMikeH]

Fascinating Soloman, Thank You .. Mike.

[@TheChessGiant]

Great game from Kai! Thanks Mike, blessings.

[@aaryanaryal6617]

We need a st. george defence week against e4 and d4 too 🥲

[@TheChessGiant]

Yessir! (The St. George Defense is slept on!)

[@jasonharris2412]

Love you channel man!!

[@TheChessGiant]

Thank you my brotha! Glad you're liking the vids!

[@banzaiburger]

Man I had to withdraw from that tournament because my whole hood was flooded out. Great stuff and happy to see Hippos being played and victorious!

[@TheChessGiant]

Ah gotcha! Ya the rain has been crazy smh.

[@GeorgeEpting]

Cool game black closing everything right im hoping for the level his playing against is right or maybe i should say the the opening his going against or both but i really enjoyed middle to end with some simple one movers as much as i love my one movers in a opening❤😊

[@zekeboyer7508]

I love the hippo and you Solomon ❤

[@TheChessGiant]

You too my guy! Thanks for following this week! ❤ 🦛

[@kshitiz6376]

It's a must that the online players don't get their hands on this opening. The fight for elo points will be brutal if they do end up learning the secret of this set up. Great video,as always.

[@TheChessGiant]

Facts to that my guy! And thanks!

[@Daniel-G-P]

Fantastic video!

[@TheChessGiant]

Thanks Daniel! 🦛🦛

[@isaacruddell9942]

The setup here is really good!

[@TheChessGiant]

Thanks! You're the one who got me thinking about better background and further from wall

[@kai-iu9xm]

Thanks for showcasing my game on your channel!

[@TheChessGiant]

You got it brotha! Way to play.

[@1mrq]

Who are you?

[@kai-iu9xm]

@@1mrq hi tony

[@TheChessGiant]

Thanks for sending it in brotha.

[@frozendilemma]

Hmm

[@raiedfadhil6248]

Going to start playing the Hippo, myQ : is it working with all d4 openings? Thank you

[@TheChessGiant]

It does! We continue as usual with our hippo setup against d4.

[@billi9230]

At this point I am too afraid to ask my trainer if I can switch

[@TheChessGiant]

He would say no?

[@billi9230]

@@TheChessGiant We just worked on my KID repertoire. Would be kinda stupid to change it right now

[@cirrin]

@@billi9230 just play the hippo as white then lol

[@TheChessGiant]

@@billi9230 Ah. Ya that makes a ton of sense.

[@faisalamanullah8585]

Give us hippo 2 hours class so that we can play with pro players

[@TheChessGiant]

Here is my 6 hour course on it!thechessgiant.gumroad.com/l/hippopotamusdefensecourse

[@1eingram]

My hippo doesn't work out like Eric Hanson's does. Probably because he's a GM and I'm 850.

[@LinardsZ]

nice

[@TheChessGiant]

Thanks! Was a nice game by Kai!

[@TalesOfHeilotia]

I'm not hating the hips but I find hard to play it myself personally. I think it's due to lack of space

[@TheChessGiant]

Totally! Ya definetely not for everyone. Very tightly locked pieces at move 10.

[@michaelallport5816]

Yes, lots of new wrinkles here from the black side.

[@TheChessGiant]

Nice game from Kai!

[@georgewashington895]

First

[@TheChessGiant]

🦛 🦛

[@dylanandrejic4902]

No better week than hippo week 🦛