Tree path 3 levels King's Pawn Game › Hippopotamus Defense › Hippopotamus Defense
- Chess Codex
- King's Pawn Game B00
- Hippopotamus Defense B00
- Hippopotamus Defense B00 you are here
Hippopotamus Defense
Overview
Hippopotamus Defense is a variation within the Semi-Open Games family, indexed as ECO B00.
The Semi-Open Games group covers semi-open games — replies to 1.e4 where Black declines the symmetrical 1…e5 in favour of an asymmetric pawn structure.
It is reached after 6 plies of play, with the move sequence 1. e4 Nh6 2. d4 g6 3. c4 f6.
It is a variation of Hippopotamus Defense, which itself descends from the root opening King's Pawn Game.
Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.
- ECO code
- B00
- Group
- Semi-Open Games (B)
- Plies
- 6
- Parent
- Hippopotamus Defense
This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.
Statistics from Lichess
21,797 games · White 45.7% / Draw 4.6% / Black 49.7%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Nc3 | 13,204 | |
| Nf3 | 1,846 | |
| f4 | 1,577 | |
| Be3 | 1,023 | |
| h3 | 890 | |
| Bxh6 | 846 | |
| Bd3 | 771 | |
| h4 | 426 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:17:34
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Submissions are reviewed before publishing.