Learn Spanish (Latin America): Ella incluso impresionó al juez estricto.

Incluso usually goes immediately before the word or phrase it is emphasizing. By placing it before impresionó, it emphasizes the surprising action she managed to do. If you wanted to say Even she impressed the judge, you would put it at the very beginning: Incluso ella impresionó...

Can I use hasta instead of incluso in this sentence?

Yes, you can! Ella hasta impresionó al juez estricto means exactly the same thing. Both incluso and hasta are used to mean even when adding an unexpected or surprising piece of information to a statement.

Why is it al juez and not just el juez?

This is a reminder of the personal a. Since the judge (juez) is a person and is the direct object receiving the action of being impressed, you must use the preposition a. When a is followed by the masculine article el, they always contract into al.

I see estricto comes after juez. Does it have to go there?