k It was in the late 1970s that I first made the aquaintance of this provocative counter-attacking defence. Under the influence of Raymond Keene, a great many British players were playing it around that time and I decided to jump on the bandwagon. Later on it proved quite difficult to jump off again and play more classical openings, but then that's another story.
30
k With his first two moves, 1...g6 and 2...Bg7 Black makes no attempt whatsoever to follow the tried and trusted classical precept of occupying the center. Instead he calmly fianchettoes a bishop and argues the he can attend to things like development later in the game.
25
k Some practitioners of the Modern (Colin McNab and David Norwood for example) like to try and close the position up with ...c6 and possible ...d5. But I have my own interpretation involving a fierce counterattack against the d4 square.
20
k Above all I want that bishop on g7 to breathe fire, to strike terror along the h8-a1 diagonal. Sometimes I play ...c7-c5, sometimes ...e7-e5, but always something against the d4 square and with that long diagonal in mind.
20
k There isn't enough time to show all the ins and outs of this defence, but the following games show my interpretation in action against a variety of White set-ups and how this opening has served me faithfully in some critical games.
20
k Amongst my victims with this opening are the likes of Bent Larsen and Viswanathan Anand, but on this occasion I'll show you the real crushes! The first game was played in the last round of the student team Championships in Graz 1981 in which the England team was going for the silver medal....
25
k Polajzer-Davies, Student Team Ch., Graz (Austria), 1981
wname Polajzer
1
bname Davies
1
d4
g6
c4
Bg7
Nc3
d6
e4
k According to the late Mikhail Botvinnik, setting up the pawns on d4, c4 and e4 is the strongest answer to the Modern Defence. I have usually preferred my `stock' recipe; a counterattack against the d4 square.
20
Nc6
Be3
e5
d5
Nce7
k Reaching a kind of King's Indian Defence in which the fact that Black's knight has not been developed on f6 yet means that he can sometimes play ...f7-f5 before bringing it out. White takes immediate measures against this.
20
g4
c5
h4
7
Nf6
g5
Nh5
7
Be2
Nf4
Bf3
7
O-O
Nge2
f5
7
Qd2
Qa5
O-O-O
7
Rb8
k !! One of the best moves I have ever played. The idea, should White play quietly now, is to pry open the queenside with ....b5 followed by ....a6. And there are other points should White capture on f4.
25
Nxf4
exf4
7
Bxf4
fxe4
k White, by the way, loses a piece after 17.Nxe4 Qxd2+.
6
Nxe4
Qxd2
10
back 2
k The line which most beautifully illustrates the power of 14...Rb8 is:
10
Bxe4
Bxc3
bxc3
7
Rxf4
Qxf4
Qxc3+
7
Kb1
b5
k Opening up the b-file. Or...
7
back 2
Bc2
Bf5
7
Rd2
Qa1+
back 10
Bxd6
Rxf3
k !
7
Bxb8
Rxc3+
k !
7
k Now if 19.bxc3...
bxc3
Bxc3
Qc2
7
Qa3+
Kb1
Bf5
k followed by 22...e3.
8
back 6
Kb1
e3
fxe3
7
Bf5+
Ka1
Rc2
k !
7
k White lost on time but he could equally have resigned.
Qxa5
k This would have been met by:
Bxb2+
Kb1
Rd2+
k followed by mate.
7
k I still count this as my most artistic miniature.
5
revert
k This next game was one of the wins which earned my first Grandmaster norm in Oslo 1988. After a few careless moves in the opening Black develops a murderous attack. White, by the way, is not a patzer. These days he has a rating of around 2500 and is on the verge of becoming a GM.
25
k Gausel,E-Davies,N, Oslo, 1988
3
wname Gausel
1
bname Davies
1
d4
d6
e4
g6
Nc3
Bg7
Bc4
Nc6
Be3
Nf6
h3
k Preventing 6...Ng4 but losing time for development.
7
e5
dxe5
Nxe5
7
Bb3
O-O
Qd2
7
b5
k !
7
k White's neglect of development allows Black to take the initiative.
10
f3
b4
Nd5
7
Nxd5
Bxd5
c6
7
Bb3
a5
a4
7
d5
k Blasting open the center before White has got his king safe. If he had now tried to remedy this with 15.0-0-0 there would follow:
12
O-O-O
Qf6
k and after 16.Bd4 there is:
5
Bd4
c5
k ! distracting the bishop from the defence of b2.
10
back 4
exd5
Nc4
7
Bxc4
Bxb2
k Suddenly White is in desperate trouble; the threats include 17...Bxa1 and 17...Bc3, not to mention 17...Qh4+.
17
Ne2
Qh4+
k Even stronger than capturing the rook on a1, as that will remain a threat.
12
Bf2
Qxc4
Rb1
7
Bc3
Nxc3
bxc3
7
Qd3
Re8+
Kd1
7
Qa2
k !
7
Rc1
Ba6
Qxc3
7
Qxd5+
Qd2
Rad8
k ! The final position shows the true extent of White's misery.
15
revert
k Engedal,N-Davies N, Gausdal Peer-Gynt , 1990
3
wname Engedal
1
bname Davies
1
e4
g6
d4
Bg7
Nc3
d6
f4
Nc6
k I was later to abandon this move after Dragan Velimirovic answered it with 5.Bb5 in a tournament in Vrnjacka Banja in 1991. Since then I have answered the Austrian Attack (4.f4) with 4...e6 followed by ...Ne7, ...Nd7, ...b6 and ...Bb7, obtaining a similar set-up to the game.
25
Be3
Nf6
Nf3
7
e6
Be2
O-O
7
O-O
Ne7
Nd2
7
b6
a4
a6
7
Qe1
c5
k Black's usual way of challenging White's set-up from this structure. Here it proves especially effective because White has played the rather artificial 9.Nd2.
15
Qf2
Bb7
Bf3
7
Qc7
a5
cxd4
7
Bxd4
b5
Bb6
7
Qc8
Rac1
Nd7
7
Bd4
k 18.Be3 was better, as now Black rips apart what is left of White's center.
10
e5
Be3
f5
k ! The opening of the position proves good for Black as his pieces are better placed. Note that White's king also proves weak, a consequence of 4.f4!
15
g3
exf4
gxf4
7
b4
Nd1
Nf6
7
Qg2
fxe4
Nxe4
7
Nxe4
Bxe4
Bxe4
7
Qxe4
Qg4+
Kh1
k 27.Qg2 Qf5 would also have been unpleasant for White.
10
Nf5
Qxb4
k A suicidal pawn snatch but it is already rather difficult to give White good advice.
12
Ng3+
k Taking the knight allows 29...Qh3+ :
hxg3
Qh3
Kg1
7
Qg3
Kh1
Rf5
k With Rh5 to come.
10
back 6
Kg1
Nxf1+
Kxf1
7
Qf3+
Kg1
Rae8
7
Qd2
Rxf4
k ! White has had enough. 33.Bxf4 is answered by 33...Re2 threatening both mate and the queen.
13
revert
k For a period of about 10 years I played nothing but the Modern, but in the late 1980s I started to branch out into other openings. Even eating caviar every day can become boring.
15
k Yet faced with the prospect of having to win my last round game for a GM norm in a tournament in Budapest, I could hardly answer 1.e4 with 1...e5, after which I would get a boring Four Knights or Ruy Lopez. The only chance was the Modern Defence, and this was it's finest hour.
25
k Godena,M-Davies,N, First Saturday Tournament, Budapest, May 1993
5
wname Godena
1
bname Davies
1
e4
g6
d4
Bg7
Nc3
d6
Nge2
k The safe way of introducing the fianchetto line for White, as after the immediate 4.g3...
10
back 1
g3
k there is 4...Nc6...
Nc6
k and if 5.Nge2 then 5...Bg4.
Nge2
Bg4
8
back 4
Nge2
k After the text move I either play the immediate 4...Nc6, or sometimes 4...a6 5.a4 Nc6.
10
Nc6
Be3
Nf6
7
h3
e5
dxe5
7
Nxe5
Ng3
k The safe way to play it would have been:
Be6
Qd2
Nc4
8
back 3
k But given that I had to win this game I was not afraid of danger.
7
O-O
Qd2
Re8
7
O-O-O
b5
k !? A pawn for an open file - not a bad deal with opposite wing castling. If White doesn't capture Black gets the c4 square for his knight on e5.
16
Bxb5
Bd7
k After 12.f4 my opponent didn't like the look of:
f4
Bxb5
fxe5
7
Rxe5
Bd4
Qe7
k which he felt gave me good compensation for the sacrificed exchange.
15
back 6
k In the post mortem we looked at 12.Ba6!? but then 12...Be6 wasn't clear.
10
Be2
Qb8
f4
7
Nc6
Bf3
Qb4
7
k Preparing to move a rook to b8 and threaten mate on b2.
7
a3
Qb7
e5
7
Rab8
k An alternative way to defend b2 was with 17.Na4.
5
Na4
k But then Black has...
dxe5
fxe5
Qb5
k !
7
exf6
Bxf6
b3
7
Rxe3
Qxd7
Bg5
k and if 22.Kb1 then 22...Rxb3+.
12
back 10
b3
dxe5
fxe5
Rxe5
7
Nge4
Qa6
k ! It is less good to play this move after a preliminary exchange of knights on e4. Thus:
back 1
Nxe4
Nxe4
7
Qa6
a4
k White's defences hold.
10
back 4
Qa6
a4
k ? The decisive mistake. White should take this opportunity to exchange on f6, as for the time being Black is forced to recapture with the bishop. After Black's next move it becomes possible to take back on f6 with the queen.
20
Na5
Nxf6+
Qxf6
k ! The point, after which the latent threats along the long h8-a1 diagonal prove decisive. Perhaps White thought that his next move made the capture with the queen impossible, but a serious disappointment is waiting.
20
Bd4
Qd6
k ! Ouch! Only now did he see that the intended capture of my rook on e5 is met by 23...Qa3+ followed by 24...Nxb3.
15
Nb1
Rxb3
k ! KAPOW! White must kiss his castled position goodbye.
6
Bxe5
Qb6
k White has had enough. The threat is 25...Rb1+, the rook is immune to capture because of the knight fork picking up White's queen and after 25.Nc3 there is either 25...Nc4 or 25...Ra3, depending on Black's mood.
30
k This event was brought to you by Warwick chess club (England)
5
