The Hippopotamus Defence, A Underestimated Opening

Welcome back to the Duck Studies and I will show you an opening I believe is very underestimated of its potential. The Hippopotamus Defense it is a more defensive opening where you Fianchetto your bishops and move your knights under your pawns. I will explain it, and test it against a few players.

Explanation of the Hippopotamus Defense

The Hippopotamus Opening has a more passive setup but it is hard to get through the setup. 

This is Petrosian vs. Spassky in the World Championship of 1996

As you can see in the setup you will fianchetto your bishops and develop your Knights passively most players that see this position would say that white has a huge advantage and would probably go on to win the match. But to a surprise, the game is actually mostly equal with white only having a +0.4 advantage. Let's see the game between Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky.

Petrosian VS Spassky 

In the game, both players had chances to get an advantage for the opening Petrosian had a +1 advantage in the opening until he played g3. But later Boris Spassky played Bg3 and Tigran Petrosian had a +2 advantage but later Boris Ground down at Tigrans advantage and got a draw.  

Bullet Test

Okay, we'll be testing out the hippopotamus in Blitz and Bullet to see how it does. 

I admit I played poorly and probably could have played better but it is Bullet after all.

Blitz Test

For the Blitz test, I will be playing 3/0 Blitz because if it was 3/2 then my opponent would probably win.

I won due to my opponent making a few crucial mistakes and I took advantage of it. 

Pros and Cons

Pros:

1. It is a Defensive opening and is hard to get through.

2. It is a good opening for quick chess because it takes longer to get past.

3. It gives you more chances of a draw.

4. Your Pawns can go for advances like f5 and c5.

5. Your Opponent might underestimate you and start getting cocky.

Cons:

1. You only get a little space.

2. Your Development is restricted.

3. You are always on the side that is defending.

Conclusion

I think that the Hippopotamus Defense is a solid opening for Blitz and Bullet. And that it is actually a way better opening than some people think.

This is Pirate signing off