Modern Defense

Overview

The Modern Defense (1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7) is a flexible hypermodern system in which Black fianchettoes the king's bishop and cedes the center, planning to undermine it later with ...c5, ...e5, or ...d5. Closely related to the Pirc, it gives Black enormous move-order flexibility.

Position after 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7

Key Ideas

• Black lets White build a big center, then strikes at it with timely pawn breaks.
• The g7-bishop is the heart of Black's setup, raking the long dark-squared diagonal.
• Move-order flexibility lets Black sidestep White's most dangerous prepared lines.
• Knowing when to break with ...c5 or ...e5 matters more than memorized theory.

Main Variations

History

Championed by creative players such as Tigran Petrosian and later Tiger Hillarp Persson, the Modern embodies the hypermodern belief that the center can be attacked rather than occupied.