🏆 Shortlisted for Best Opening Course for Black of 2022 🏆
The Smart Slacker’s Weapon For Black
Against Everything
Many people are too busy perfecting their openings to
actually improve their chess — like
FIDE Master Alessio De Santis.
De Santis also tried to keep up with the latest wrinkle in the Queen’s Gambit Declined, French Defense, and Indian openings. But he didn't start making serious gains in his win rate — until he streamlined his Black repertoire and “slacked off.”
He went from “performing worse than average” to scoring from
up to 89% against White’s major openings… consistently beating experts rated 2000 to 2300 FIDE… and upsetting pros with 150 points on him.
All thanks to
The Hippopotamus Defence. It's an all-in-one system for Black, which De Santis has employed with great success!
And now, he joins forces with Grandmaster Simon Williams — a Hippo expert in his own right — to show you…
How To Play This Flexible Defense Like A PRO
And Confidently Take On Any Opening By White
The Hippopotamus Defence solves all of your opening problems with a universal setup. So you never again have to wonder how to start the game.
That’s because you only need to remember the formation below…
…which gives you a perfectly playable middlegame, and plenty of chances to outsmart White
no matter what they play.
Your bishops dominate the long diagonals, while your knights eye critical squares in the fourth rank. Plus, your little center keeps White’s aggression at bay, so you can attack the wings.
Setting up the Hippo only needs 10 interchangeable moves that are near-impossible to stop. Which means you'll reach your ideal formation game after game.
But the best part? You only need
an hour and a half to start playing the Hippo.
That’s the time it takes to watch the entire “Hippo Basics” video and learn a Quickstarter chapter. Inside, Williams — in his trademark easy-to-follow presentation style — shows you:
🦛 How to reach the Hippo’s ideal setup without fail. Your pieces will know where they belong. You’ll learn the optimal move-orders against all of White’s setups, and soon be able to blitz right into a comfortable middlegame.
🦛 When to deviate with Semi-Hippos. If White doesn’t play the most challenging setups, you won’t only have dynamic equality, but an outright opening edge.
🦛 Essential structures and move order tips. So you can squeeze the maximum advantage out of the Hippo's flexibility.
It’s no exaggeration to say that — if you watch nothing else but the Introduction and Quickstarter videos — you’ll have an all-in-one system for Black you can play the rest of your career.
That said, you won't want to miss the rest of
The Hippopotamus Defence…
Because in the next chapters, De Santis and Williams give you, not one, but
two repertoires offering 1…g6 or 1…b6 depending on your personal preference.
You’ll also see in action the key strategic themes which tip the game’s balance in your favor, as well as the common mistakes you must avoid. And finally, you’ll get
110 model games and
over 350 puzzles which give you a “template” for playing the Hippo like a pro.
With
The Hippopotamus Defence, you and your Black repertoire will be set for life.
But don't take our word for it.
Take the course for a month-long test drive, while we shoulder all of the risk through
our 100% satisfaction, 30-day money back guarantee. If the Hippo isn't the ultimate flexible system you hoped it would be, we'll rush you a refund. No questions asked.
