Hippopotamus Defence

Hippopotamus Defence
abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
d8 black queen
e8 black king
h8 black rook
b7 black bishop
c7 black pawn
d7 black knight
e7 black knight
f7 black pawn
g7 black bishop
a6 black pawn
b6 black pawn
d6 black pawn
e6 black pawn
g6 black pawn
h6 black pawn
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
d2 white pawn
e2 white pawn
f2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
a1 white rook
b1 white knight
c1 white bishop
d1 white queen
e1 white king
f1 white bishop
g1 white knight
h1 white rook
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh

The Hippopotamus Defence is a chess opening system employed by Black, consisting of a double fianchetto structure (bishops on b7 and g7) and a small pawn centre (pawns on d6 and e6). The knights are typically developed to e7 and d7 and the rook's pawns to a6 and h6.[1] This structure can be obtained by a wide variety of move orders but it occurs most frequently via the Modern Defence (1.e4 g6) or Owen's Defence (1.e4 b6). The Hippopotamus can also be played against queen's pawn openings or flank openings and is thus a genuinely universal system. The same structure is also occasionally utilized by White.

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
  1. ^ Alessio de Santis, The Hippopotamus Defence, 2019, page 12.