@MrPushwood said in #2:
> It's a reasonable opening. Can't really be "punished," per se.
Totally agree. A few months ago a student asked me to teach him how to play using this Hippo-type scheme. So I had to go through some books and videos to update my ideas.
@Sarg0n said in #4:
> Those who try to punish will be punished!
That's how it is. When I've tried to force events, I lost against this Hippo formation.
@DABO5000 said in #6:
> Hm against this setup, you can play basically anything and have an equal game. Just grab space. Like you did. I think you started going wrong after g6 then a6. Where you gave white enough tempi to equalize. You had to go g4 f4 and just smoosh the guy. You decided to close the position as well. You should be trying to break open the position when you have such an advantage in space and development. Hope I helped
I agree with this general strategy. The following game may serve as a good example: