The Modern Defence is a dynamic, ambitious and universal opening, one that can be used against virtually every system White can play. Black's provocative strategy is based upon allowing White to construct an imposing pawn centre in the anticipation that a well-timed strike will bring about its downfall. Both sides can play for high rewards, albeit at some risk: White can hope to succeed with a direct attack or to squash Black with a space advantage, while Black will aim to destroy White's centre and mop up the remains. All in all this can lead to intriguing battles in which one slip from either side is often fatal. In this book, Nigel Davies studies the Modern by going back to basics, introducing the key moves and ideas, and taking care to explain the reasoning behind them - something that has often been neglected or taken for granted.
Everyman Chess's Starting Out series has firmly established itself as the leading guide to studying openings for up-and-coming players. These books are distinguished by their easy-to-read layout, the lucid explanations of the fundamentals, and the abundance of notes, tips and warnings to help the reader absorb vital ideas. Starting Out opening books are ideal for enthusiastic chess players who have little experience of the openings in question and who wish to appreciate the essential principles behind them.
- Written by a renowned Modern expert
- All the main lines are covered
- Ideal for improvers, club players and tournament players
Nigel Davies is both an experienced Grandmaster and chess trainer. A former British Open Quickplay Champion, Davies is the author of several successful chess books and is highly experienced in chess publishing. Previous works for Everyman Chess include Alekhine's Defence and the highly acclaimed Play 1 e4 e5!.
What is the Modern Defence?
The Modern is a universal system of defence that can be played against any White opening. It is characterized by Black starting out with a fianchetto of his king's bishop with 1...g6 and 2...Bg7.
It differs from the Pirc Defence (1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6) in that Black delays developing his king's knight to f6. This knight may remain on g8 for some time or even come out to e7 or h6.
This book deals only with the Modern Defence, though Black can often transpose into a Pirc by playing ...Ng8-f6. I've pointed out the moments at which these Pirc transpositions may be a good idea, but the Pirc itself is not dealt with in this volume.
A Brief History of the Modern Defence
Although Louis Paulsen was playing 1...g6 in the 19th century, it wasn't until the 1950s that Ufimtsev, Robatsch and Kotov started to play the Modern with regularity at a high level. Gradually it attracted more adherents and by the 1960s 1...g6 could be found in the games of World Champions Botvinnik, Petrosian and Smyslov, plus a host of other strong Grandmasters.
In 1972 English GM Raymond Keene, together with George Botterill, wrote a seminal work on the Modern. This was to influence a generation of British players, of whom GMs David Norwood and Colin McNab proved to be the most enthusiastic practitioners.
Throughout the 1980s I played nothing but the Modern Defence as Black. In 1981 it helped me win an individual gold medal for my board in the World U26 Team Championships in Graz (in nine games I had eight Blacks, in which I conceded just two draws) and was also largely responsible for my first GM norm in Oslo in 1987. Later on I learned some more classical openings, but the Modern remains one of my major strike weapons when I need to win as Black.
What are the attractions of the Modern?
As I already said, the Modern is a universal system of defence that can be played against any White opening. It is characterized by its great flexibility with which it can adapt to any White set-up. It does not lead to clear and crisp positions, but to rather muddy and complex strategic and tactical problems.
It is this characteristic which makes it ideal for playing to win with Black: there are not the clean forcing lines and early resolution of tension which characterize the majority of openings. The delayed confrontation of pieces also makes it less vulnerable to sharp opening analysis - it requires understanding rather than memory.
How I play the Modern
My interpretation of the Modern Defence is to try to extend the range of Black's king's bishop by counterattacking against d4 with either ...c7-c5 or ...e7-e5. This is the sharpest and most interesting way to play the Modern. I do not like or particularly believe in the lines where Black tries to blockade with ...c7-c6 and ...d7-d5.
About this book
As part of the Everyman Starting Out series, this book is primarily aimed at players with little or no experience of the Modern Defence and who wish to get to grips with the plans and ideas. Each section begins with an introduction to the lines in question and an explanation of the strategy Black should adopt.
The illustrative games have been chosen for their instructive value and I have tried to explain the strategies for both sides. I've taken them from my own practice wherever possible, firstly because I understand them better and, secondly, because many of them were played against the kind of opposition that the reader may encounter.
Besides the games and explanations I've also included 30 test positions to help the reader get to grips with the sort of positions encountered in the Modern Defence. This sort of middlegame training is an excellent way of getting to understand the mechanics of different openings.
I've written this book mainly from Black's perspective as the vast majority of readers will be looking to play the Modern as Black. But it should also be useful to White players, too, not least because they'll understand what their opponents are trying to do to them.
Wishing you luck with your future Modern Defence encounters.
Nigel Davies,
June 2008
004 Bibliography
007 Introduction
011 The Austrian Attack and Other f2-f4 Lines
032 Bg5 Systems
041 Be3 and h2-h4 Systems
058 Bc4 Systems
072 g2-g3 Systems
083 The Classical 4 Nf3
100 Early c2-c3 Systems
115 The Averbakh System
131 The Lesser Averbakh
150 Other 1 d4 Lines
161 Flank Openings
177 Test Positions
183 Solutions
186 Index of Complete Games
188 Index of Variations | 
