English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Hedgehog Defense

The Hedgehog Defense is a line of the Symmetrical English in which Black builds the Hedgehog, a pawn formation on a6, b6, d6 and e6. This page reaches it by 1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 c5 4.g3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.O-O Be7. The classic order is 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.Nc3 e6 6.O-O Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6: Black exchanges the c-pawn for White's d-pawn and then sets up the pawns.

The idea

The pawns form a row of "spines" behind which Black places the pieces: typically bishops on b7 and e7, knights on d7 and f6, the queen on c7 and the rooks on c8 and e8, or on c8 and d8. Black's position is cramped but has great latent energy, released by the pawn breaks ...b5 or ...d5. These breaks work well because White usually has pawns on c4 and e4, the Maróczy Bind.

The position is also relatively free of weaknesses: White has no obvious way to attack Black's pawns, while Black has several ways to create counterplay.

Plans for Black

Once the structure is in place, Black reorganises according to White's set-up:

• The knight on d7 often goes to c5, attacking a pawn on e4, or to e5, attacking a pawn on c4.
• The queen can move to b8, unmasking the rook on c8 and perhaps supporting ...b5, or to a8, eyeing d5.
• A rook on d8 defends the d6-pawn and supports its advance to d5.
• Sometimes Black plays ...Bf8, ...g6 and ...Bg7 to put pressure on d4. Black can even attack on the kingside with ...Kh8, ...Rg8 and ...g5.

History

The ideas behind the Hedgehog were first developed in the English Opening. Traditional strategy frowned on such a cramped set-up, and in the early 1970s "hedgehog" was a general word for any cramped, defensive position that was hard to attack. The formation was first analysed in depth in the 1970s, when players began to appreciate its strategic ideas, and today the word refers to this structure.

White can adopt a Hedgehog too, though rarely. One of the first games with it was Fischer–Andersson, Siegen 1970. Fischer won convincingly with the attacking plan Kh1, Rg1 and g4, and Andersson was so impressed that he became one of the leading Hedgehog players himself, for example in Karpov–Andersson, Milan 1975.

The same structure also appears in the Queen's Indian Defense and in the Taimanov and Kan Variations of the Sicilian.

The numbers

On Lichess White wins 47.9% of the 111,485 games with this line and Black 43.4%, with 8.7% draws.