Modern defence
chess opening
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:
The Modern defence
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 |              | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
- 1.e4 g6
- 2.d4 Bg7
The opening is hypermodern. Black does not occupy the centre, he counter-attacks the centre built up by his opponent. He will probably play ...d6 next, then develop his K-side, then perhaps counter-attack the white centre with ...c5. 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]