the Hikaru "system"
If you are a full time streamer like Hikaru, you need to have openings ready every day.
And Hikaru has many different openings he can play with Black, but this one is broadly part of the modern defense.
But Hikaru likes a particular set-up, which I will call the Hikaru System
Specifically, this is how Hikaru likes to develop his pieces in this Modern Defense.
This is not a Hippopotamus defense, because he elected to play a7-a6 and b7-b5, instead of b7-b6.
It is a modern defense because he starts with g6,d6,Bg7. But he goes for the double fianchetto.
Emphasis is on the range of the two bishops which I highlighted on the diagram ahead.
How good is Hikaru in this set-up ? Extremely good. Here are the stats
On 11 Bd3 in the line above, he won 10 games out of 10 . And looking at the games, he plays GMs or top blitz players on chess.com with high blitz ratings.
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Of course White has different ways to play against the Hikaru system. I would divide the approaches in two groups. White plays 0-0-0 and goes for the attack, or White plays more quietly 0-0.
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I think the more ambitious and more principled approach for White is to go 0-0-0. I will explore the ideas here based on Hikaru's game.
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Model Game : White is GM Sam_ChessMood, rated 2812 in blitz online.
Heres' the key opening position
White has played 0-0-0 and h2-h4. Black avoids h4-h5 by playing h7-h5. Therefore White occupies the g5 square with a knight. It wouldn't be advised for Black to play f7-f6, which would weaken e6 and g6.
Let's just look at the position reached after move 15
a few observations. Black has castled long as well and played Kb8. Black has played Nf6-d7.
White has played g2-g4 trying to open up the kingside. But Black has castled queenside, so this doesn't look as strong.
What are the main ideas for Black, since we have completed the pieces development on move 15 ?
You will note I am not going with tons of opening lines and variations. I think it is very important to vizualize where pieces go and what are the key ideas in the set-up.
Answers with arrows
Black wants to play c7-c5. The rook on c8 will make it possible. The bishop on g7 is targetting c3 and b2. The knight on b6 will go to a4.
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and now we can get to the moves and the actual game, with variations and annotations.
