Great article. I am inspired to start studying this opening. I remember at a club when I was first exposed to it...

GreenLaser said: "...your ideas remind me of Tiger's Modern. That book not only includes the Hippo, but blends Modern and Hippo opening concepts."

You are the third person in the last month or so that has mentioned the book Tiger's Modern in response to something I've written about my experiences with the Hippo Defense.  I've never been one for reading tea leaves so to speak but a third mention of the book in such a short time has really piqued my interest....

Regards, Roy 

Gonnusuke, your ideas remind me of Tiger's Modern. That book not only includes the Hippo, but blends Modern and Hippo opening concepts.

GreenLaser said:

Gonnosuke, 4.f3 worked in these games and is especially suitable against players who are cautious and do not get counterplay, because White's attack is "automatic" then. Saving a tempo compared with the KID Saemisch, by not playing c4, can help. As you point out, against better players it would still be a game. Have you tried leaving out f3 by playing Be3 (still English attack style) or Bg5 (Byrne Variation)? These might fit your style and aim and be reasonable options for variety.

Thanks for the response.  To answer your question, no, I haven't tried playing 4.Be3 but I like the idea since it paves the way for Qd2 and opens the possibility of attacking the fiachettoed bishop on the c1-h6 diagonal.

In OTB games I regularly play the Hippo Defense (the link is provided to show the basic Hippo formation) and when white moves Bg5, I often view it as a favor since I inevitably move h6 to back the Bishop off.  Even better in that situation is if white retreats with Bh4 since it allows me to expand with g5 and costs white even more time.  I mention this because my experience with Bg5 in the Hippo has made me leary about using the Byrne variation to attack the Pirc.

Interestingly, it's also quite common for white to attack the Hippo on the c1-h6 diagonal using the aforementioned Be3 and Qd2 moves.  The dark square bishop plays an especially crucial role in the Hippo Defense and as such it's important for black to avoid trading the bishop as long as possible.  To prevent the trade, black will often delay castling or not castle at all so the Rook is capable of assisting with the defense of the h6 square (after black pushes the h-pawn of course).  Another strategy that black often uses that allows him to to deter the trade after castling is Kh7.  I personally prefer the former option but I've seen Kh7 used with good success.  Both options are somewhat awkward but the goal is to prevent white from moving Bh6/Qh6 and in that regard, they both get the job done.

-Roy

Gonnosuke, 4.f3 worked in these games and is especially suitable against players who are cautious and do not get counterplay, because White's attack is "automatic" then. Saving a tempo compared with the KID Saemisch, by not playing c4, can help. As you point out, against better players it would still be a game. Have you tried leaving out f3 by playing Be3 (still English attack style) or Bg5 (Byrne Variation)? These might fit your style and aim and be reasonable options for variety.

bowanza, is your line with 19.Kf2 after 18.Rf1 Qc1+? If so, 19.Kf2 Qf4+ 20.Kg1 attacks the queen, so 19...Qb2+ wins either the rook on a1 or the knight if it goes to d2. 

What if 19 Kf2  Qf4+     20 Kg1  Be5       21  g2?

In addition to the traditional center pawn thrust, I've always felt the Pirc/KID was vulnerable to an early attack on the fianchettoed bishop.  Although I've been successful with this strategy, I have to concede that I've never had the chance to employ it against anyone rated 2000+ or a Pirc/KID specialist so it's very likely that I have no idea what I'm talking about! :-) 

To give you an idea of what I'm referring to, here are a couple of my games from the ongoing Pirc tournament.

No, it was not an experiment. The line with c3 is known as the few examples I gave for reference show. It is not the most popular variation. The capture on c5 by White broke his center. In the examples, White played better.

five pawn moves at the start of a game! perhaps he was experimenting!

After 18.Rf1 "everything" that a "reasonable person" (which has a legal definition) would play wins the already won game. Just three different queen moves are listed as examples.

hmm... what is this "everything"?