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authorMarkus Uhlin <markus@nifty-networks.net>2023-12-07 21:31:49 +0100
committerMarkus Uhlin <markus@nifty-networks.net>2023-12-07 21:31:49 +0100
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+ The Modern Defence
+
+ by GM Nigel Davies
+
+
+ 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.
+ 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.
+ 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!
+ 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....
+
+ Polajzer-Davies
+ Student Team Ch., Graz (Austria), 1981
+
+ 1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4
+
+ 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.
+
+ 4...Nc6! 5.Be3 e5! 6.d5 Nce7
+
+ 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.
+
+ 7.g4 c5 8.h4 Nf6 9.g5 Nh5 10.Be2 Nf4 11.Bf3 0-0 12.Nge2 f5
+ 13.Qd2 Qa5 14.0-0-0 Rb8!!
+
+ One of the best moves I have ever played. The idea,
+ should White play quietly now, is to prise open the
+ queenside with ....b5 followed by ....a6. And there are
+ other points should White capture on f4.
+
+ 15.Nxf4 exf4 16.Bxf4 fxe4 17.Bxd6
+
+ The line which most beautifully illustrates the power of
+ 14...Rb8 is 17.Bxe4 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Rxf4 19.Qxf4 Qxc3+ 20.Kb1
+ (or 20.Bc2 Bf5 21.Rd2 Qa1+) and now 20...b5, opening up the
+ b-file. White, by the way, loses a piece after 17.Nxe4
+ Qxd2+.
+
+ 17...Rxf3! 18.Bxb8 Rxc3+! 19.Kb1
+
+ Or 19.bxc3 Bxc3 20.Qc2 Qa3+ 21.Kb1 Bf5 followed by
+ 22...e3.
+
+ 19...e3 20.fxe3 Bf5+ 21.Ka1 Rc2! 0-1
+
+ White lost on time by he could equally have resigned.
+ 22.Qxa5 is met by 22...Bxb2+ 23.Kb1 Rd2+ followed by mate.
+ I still count this as my most artistic miniature.
+
+ 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 center before White has got his cing
+ 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 plalyed 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 center.
+
+ 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, May 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. In the post mortem
+ we looked at 12.Ba6!? but then 12...Be6 wasn't clear.
+
+ 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!
+
+ 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.
+
+ 22.Bd4 Qd6!
+
+ Ouch! Only now did he see that the intended capture of my
+ rook on e5 is met by 23...Qa3+ followed by 24...Nxb3.
+
+ 23.Nb1 Rxb3!
+
+ KAPOW! White must kiss his castled position goodbye.
+
+ 24.Bxe5 Qb6! 0-1
+
+ 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.
+
+ This event was brought to you by Warwick chess club (England)
+
+