Please Enter my Lair says Mr Hedgehog

There are many strong chess players who essentially reject certain aspects of opening theory and blaze their own trails with noteworthy success. The person who plays under the ICC handle of of phil2force is of that ilk. He/She loves to assume a defensive posture with either the White or Black pieces, i.e. the chess equivalent of crouching and fighting only when attacked. He is sort of the MMA/octagon version of fighters who have exceptional ground games. In following diagram of a 3 minute game played at ICC, he places many of his pawns on his third rank while attempting to create a strong point at e5 with both of his Knights poised to occupy that important central square. His thinking/setup is similar to the equally provocative Hippopotamus Defense where Black places his knights on e7 and d7 avoiding pins and preparing central pawn breaks.



He actually took the time to hop his Stead from g8 to h6 to the f7 square just so maybe someday the peripatetic horse could occupy the e5 square. His strategy is to inveigle White into some type of Austrian attack where the first players attempts to steamroll 4 pawns down the board and suffocate Black.

I had to lose  to this guy a couple of times before I figured out his subtle strategy which has frustrated many. phil2force realizes many players are taught to grab central space with pawns and his schema is an almost perfect counter to that teaching. He is content to move his King back and forth on the g8 and h8 squares begging White to over extend his center leaving himself vulnerable.

The internet chess club is chockablock full of players with incredibly artistic and unique styles. Playing there will prepare hardcore USCF players for about anything!