5 Reasons to Play Modern Defense
One of the most important steps for a chess player is deciding on a reliable repertoire that will become their trusted weapon in future games. There are so many things to address – where to start, how do I know which opening is best and most suitable for me?
Also, do you want a solid opening choice or do you want an immediate open, aggressive game? All these questions play an important part in the selection process and you’ll need to answer them objectively.
Another main difficulty in the selection of a repertoire is what to do with the black pieces – it seems that white is the one dictating the game most of the time and it can be difficult to take the game onto your territory with the black pieces. If you are still struggling with finding an adequate opening for black, we suggest you take a look at the Modern Defence, a hyper-modern chess opening that has been slowly gaining popularity. Here are a few reasons why it deserves your attention
1. Great Openings to Play for a Win with Black
The first and probably most important thing you have to know about the Modern is that it is a great opening if you need to play for a win with the black pieces.
As there isn’t much contact right from the beginning, trades are not so easy to make and it allows you to keep many pieces on the board and go for a long game with chances for both sides.
2. It Can Be Tricky to Play Against
If your opponent is not very well prepared for it, it can be difficult for him to find a good set-up over the board. It is based on a rather unusual concept – black is not fighting for the center-right from the beginning, allowing white to occupy it with his pawns.
However, this is where it gets tricky – many times white runs the risk of over-extending, whereas black doesn’t have any important weaknesses. Once your opponent has gone wrong and weakened himself too much, you can strike back and fight for the advantage.
3. It is a Flexible Opening
If you prefer to have more opening choices and be able to change whenever you like – for example, depending on who you are facing – this could be the right opening for you.
You don’t have to learn two new openings, but rather new ideas inside the same one. There are many set-ups you can choose from and white should be well-prepared to face each one of them.
4. It’s an opening that leads to interesting, original positions that are worth exploring.
There are, of course, many games you can learn from and study the plans, but there is also a lot of room for new discoveries and you can find and put in practice your own ideas.
5. It is a Low Theory System
And we have left one of the best points for last – the good news is that you won’t have to learn too much theory either!
Rather than learning and remembering exact moves and long lines, you will have to study many games, find the plans, and understand the resulting positions. This is a great opportunity to learn a new opening and improve your chess understanding at the same time – study structures, plans, and other typical middlegame ideas.
These are only a few reasons why you should give this interesting opening a look and see if it could fit your style. Check out the games played by the specialists of these openings, play around with the typical plans and we are sure you will discover other new reasons why the Modern could find a spot in your repertoire!
Ready to get started with Modern Defense?
IM Milovan Ratkovic has just released the ultimate “quickstart” course on the Modern, a 10-hour mastermind covering move orders, attacking plans, and strategic blueprints you can implement in your own games.
