Modern defence

The Modern defence
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The Modern defence is a chess opening. It is almost the only defence which can be played against any opening move; and it may be played as an opening move itself. It consists in the immediate fianchetto of the king's bishop (KB). The first moves might be:

1.e4 g6
2.d4 Bg7

The opening is hypermodern. Instead of occupying the center, Black counter-attacks the center built up by White. The system is extremely flexible, and there are many transpositions.[1] There are players, including a few grandmasters, who play almost nothing but the Modern with white and black.[2][3][4]

References

  1. Transpositions arrive at the same position from different move orders.
  2. Keene R. & Botterill G. 2003. The modern defence. Harding Simpole.
  3. Speelman J. and McDonald N. 2000. Modern defence. Everyman
  4. Norwood D. 1994. Winning with the Modern. Batsford.