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GM Nigel Davies |
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The Modern Defence
It was in the late 1970s that I first made the acquaintance 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.
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 centre. Instead he calmly fianchettoes a bishop and argues the he
can attend to things like development later in the game.
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. 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.
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. 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!
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.
Gausel, E
- Davies, N
Oslo, 1988
1.d4 d6 2.e4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.Be3 Nf6 6.h3
      
  
 
  
 
   
Preventing 6...Ng4 but losing time for development.
6...e5 7.dxe5 Nxe5 8.Bb3 0-0 9.Qd2 b5!
White's neglect of development allows Black to take the initiative.
10.f3 b4 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.Bxd5 c6 13.Bb3 a5 14.a4 d5
Blasting open the centre before White has got his King safe. If
he had now tried to remedy this with 15.0-0-0 there would follow
15...Qf6 and after 16.Bd4 there is 16...c5!, distracting the bishop
from the defence of b2.
15.exd5 Nc4! 16.Bxc4 Bxb2!
Suddenly White is in desperate trouble, the threats include 17...Bxa1
and 17...Bc3, not to mention 17...Qh4+.
17.Ne2 Qh4+
Even stronger than capturing the rook on a1, as that will remain a
threat.
18.Bf2 Qxc4 19.Rb1 Bc3 20.Nxc3 bxc3 21.Qd3 Re8+ 22.Kd1 Qa2! 23.Rc1
Ba6 24.Qxc3 Qxd5+ 25.Qd2 Rad8! 0-1
The final position shows the true extent of White's misery.
Engedal, N
- Davies, N
Gausdal Peer-Gynt, 1990
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 Nc6
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.
5.Be3 Nf6 6.Nf3 e6 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0 Ne7 9.Nd2 b6 10.a4 a6 11.Qe1 c5
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.
12.Qf2 Bb7 13.Bf3 Qc7 14.a5 cxd4 15.Bxd4 b5 16.Bb6 Qc8 17.Rac1 Nd7
18.Bd4
18.Be3 was better, as now Black rips apart what is left of White's
centre.
18...e5 19.Be3 f5!
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!
20.g3 exf4 21.gxf4 b4 22.Nd1 Nf6 23.Qg2 fxe4 24.Nxe4 Nxe4 25.Bxe4
Bxe4 26.Qxe4 Qg4+ 27.Kh1
27.Qg2 Qf5 would also have been unpleasant for White.
27...Nf5 28.Qxb4
A suicidal pawn snatch but it is already rather difficult to give
White good advice.
28...Ng3+! 29.Kg1
Taking the knight allows 29...Qh3+ followed by 30...Qg3+ and 31...Rf5.
29...Nxf1+ 30.Kxf1 Qf3+ 31.Kg1 Rae8 32.Qd2 Rxf4! 0-1
White has had enough. 33.Bxf4 is answered by 33...Re2 threatening both
mate and the queen.
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. 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.
Godena, M
- Davies, N
First Saturday Tournament, Budapest 1993
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nge2
The safe way of introducing the fianchetto line for White, as after
the immediate 4.g3 there is 4...Nc6 and if 5.Nge2 then 5...Bg4. After
the text move I either play the immediate 4...Nc6, or sometimes 4...a6
5.a4 Nc6.
4...Nc6 5.Be3 Nf6 6.h3 e5 7.dxe5 Nxe5 8.Ng3 0-0
The safe way to play it would have been 8...Be6 9.Qd2 Nc4 but given
that I had to win this game I was not afraid of danger.
9.Qd2 Re8 10.0-0-0 b5!?
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.
11.Bxb5 Bd7 12.Be2
After 12.f4 my opponent didn't like the look of 12...Bxb5 13.fxe5 Rxe5
14.Bd4 Qe7, which he felt gave me good compensation for the sacrificed
exchange.
12...Qb8 13.f4 Nc6 14.Bf3 Qb4
Preparing to move a rook to b8 and threaten mate on b2.
15.a3 Qb7 16.e5 Rab8 17.b3
An alternative way to defend b2 was with 17.Na4 but then Black has
17...dxe5 18.fxe5 Qb5! 19.exf6 Bxf6 20.b3 Rxe3 21.Qxd7 Bg5 and if
22.Kb1 then 22...Rxb3+.
17...dxe5 18.fxe5 Rxe5 19.Nge4 Qa6!
It is less good to play this move after a preliminary exchange of
knights on e4. Thus 19...Nxe4 20.Nxe4 Qa6 can by met by 21.a4
after which White's defences hold.
20.a4
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! 21.Nxf6+ Qxf6!
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