First of all, a happy new year to you all!
We continue our series on the Sicilian, which is an opening that often leads a typical structure known as the "hedgehog". In hedgehog structures Black - or, less often, White - puts at least four pawns on the third (or sixth) rank to keep enemy pieces away. Exactly what a hedgehog does when it is in danger: it rolls up, causing its spikes to come out and makes very difficult to approach.
The diagram position is from a famous game Fischer-Andersson, 1970. The black player is Ulf Andersson from Sweden, who was still an IM at that time but who would later emerge as a strong grandmaster. For a long time he was a top 20 player.
In this game Bobby Fischer confronted him with a kind of "hedgehog system", a style of play that Andersson would later also adopt in his own games with great success.
In this position Fischer found a highly remarkable strategic plan. Many years later that plan is a staple of black players who like to play hedgehog systems. What is now commonplace was once devised by a genius mind!
But are you familiar with the plan? If not, would you like to take a stab at devising the plan that Fischer came up with?
This week’s show (for Premium Members only)
