Key Concepts of Chess: The Hedgehog (Download)
by Herman Grooten

In order to understand openings properly, the middlegame should actually be studied first. Because all plans in the middlegame link directly to the ideas from the opening. Almost everything is hung up on pawn structures. Therefore, IM Herman Grooten takes the club chess player by the hand to take a closer look at common middlegame structures.

In this video course Grooten discusses the basic ideas for both White and Black of a typical structure that can arise from various opening variants. This is the so-called "hedgehog system" which is characterized by at least four black pawns on the sixth rank which we call the "spikes" of the hedgehog. Another essential aspect is that the exchange of a black c-pawn for a white d-pawn (as in the Sicilian) creates a position in which, partly due to c2-c4, a large space advantage is obtained by White. But that the "hedgehog" is viable will become clear in all the examples shown, as the author likes to use this system himself!

• Video running time: 4 hours (English)
• With interactive training including video feedback
• Extra: Model Games and Training with ChessBase apps - Play key pawn structures against Fritz on various levels

Languages: English
Level: Advanced, Tournament player, Professional
System: Windows 10 or higher, Mac OS X (only download)
Streaming: for iPad & tablet
Delivery: Download
Published: Feb 2023

Contents

Introduction
Schematic plan a
Schematic plan b
Schematic plan c
Background knowledge
Stean-Andersson
Learning from the Hedgehog Classics
Fischer-Andersson
Byrne-Andersson
Typical Plans for White
Shaving the Spikes: The Nd5!? Motif
Shaving the Spikes: a2-a4-a5
Shaving the Spikes: b2-b4 & c4-c5
Shaving the Spikes: e4-e5
Weakness provocation: f4-f5
Push g & h-pawns: g2-g4-g5; h2-h4-h5; g6
Summary plans for White
Typical Plans for Black
Pawn Trusts: ...b6-b5
Pawn Trusts: ...d6-d5
Pawn Trusts: ...b5 and ...d5
Pawn Trusts: h-pawn bayonet
Bishop redeployment
Fischer's ...g5 plan I
Fischer's ...g5 plan II
The Marozcy Bind in relationship to the Hedgehog
Move orders with e4
Move orders with c4
Move orders with d4
Move orders with Nf3
Own Games in the Hedgehog
Wintzer-Grooten
Hausrath-Grooten
Böhm-Grooten
Conclusion
Exercises 1-20