My System against the Modern Defense

Hi!  I wanted to post my idea against the Modern Defense.  I am pretty content with this system.  It does have some bite in it, and flexibility.  The stats on the game database don't reflect my results with it, but I do like the system.

The closest thing it resembles is a Stonewall, with the e-pawn pushed to e4 in one move.  Here is a look at the White side.

We can see all the pawns on d4, e4 and f4 gaining space in the center, the light bishop is on a respectable square at d3, where he defends e4 and applies pressure upon Black's kingside.  The knight is comfortable on f3, and White has castled quickly.  I choose c3 instead of Nc3 in these setups as a bit of a nuisance for Black - the g7 bishop cannot easily play normal tactics upon the d4 square, because my structure is more solid than if Nc3 were there.  Of course, it could be said that Nc3 can be played first, and maybe transferred to an alternate square.  That being said, the Nc3 system is exactly that - a different system.  This is my setup.  

I have been pretty pleased with the results.  My typical idea is to try for f5 very quickly, to crack the kingside.  This often is sufficient for me to play for an advantage in these games.

I am going to post a game I just played against an opponent who I consider to be pretty strong, at least at my level.  I played him in three games, and he did put up a fight.  But in this game, he makes a blunder in the middle game.  I think the position wasn't hard-pressed, but I believe he was out of his comfort zone with my quick assault on his kingside.  

12.Ne6! fxe5 13.Bxg6 Ke7 14.Bxh6 Bf6 (14...Rxh6? or 14....Bxh6? 15.Rf7+ +-) 15. Qh5 +-

Tatiana, thank you for that.  I knew there was a tactic in there, and honestly, tactics are my weak point  I am more of a stragetical player, so I miss tactics like this sometimes.  Thank you so much for pointing it out though, it will help me in the future, and it may help others who read this and are interested!

Nice game, but Ithink black would of been okay if he had castled earlier.

Many times, the Hippo player doesn't castle quick.  They are more concerned with creating their pawn structure.  

When I play 5 min blitz or or 10 min live I almost do not ecounter this opening,even at my 1200+- level.

But in bullet it's one of the popular openings (I play bullet at chesscube,starting from 1500 my peak is 1940).

The thing with the modern at amature level, is that people who play it tend to be stuck at the 3 first ranks.

So what I understood from all this thing is that you can simply do whatever you want on the first to fourth ranks.

So i always play this known set up that is shown as what you would do if your opponent did nothing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It works,for example if your opponent plays g6,e6,Bg7,b6,Nc6,Bg7

That's funny.  When I first started playing chess, I was probably about 13 or so.  Never saw a chess book before, knew nothing about theory - and I came up with an opening like this for White.  Except the king went to b1.  Cool setup!

f4 setups against the modern are strong and fun, but i'm not too convinced by this move order. I guess it gives B the extra option of playing c5 (maybe after Bg7) and traspose to a grand prix attack, which is ok for black. That said, it is true that a sicilian player would probably start with 1..c5 so this trasposition might not suit B tastes.

Well, if they do play ...c5, there are other options.  This is part of my opening system - a setup against a non-c5 approach from Black.  ...c5 is totally respectable.  I would play this way against ...c5. 

Of course this is a respectable setup, but what i meant is that playing 1.e4 g6 2.d4 and only later f4 seems to restrict B options, always a good idea expecially when the extra option is obiectively strong. Why do you prefer the 2.f4 move order?

Interesting post indeed. Anyways, I play (and fight) the Modern Defense. I seem to have a problem when encountering this when I play as White

Nice! I like that system! Here's a game I played some time ago to show you how I deal with it, might be useful:

Sapp, your setup is more of the mainline Austrian attack, with Bc4 and all.  Mine is a bit more reserved, with Bd3 firing down on f5 and g6, to crack the kingside shell.  Still, I liked your aggressive approach, it looked like a good fight for quite some time!

Bresando, I wouldn't say that 2. f4 is "better" than 2. d4 in terms of what you mentioned.  But, it also goes to understanding the positions.  I understand positions with f4 in the mix pretty well, and so I chose that move order.  I suppose it would be beneficial to learn ways to adopt my setup with a d4 manuever.  But if I choose 2. f4 and my opponent plays something like 2...d5!?, like opticnerve mentioned, I do have alternate systems I work with.  

My idea is to create an opening system around 1. f4, and this setup is one of many that I use - in this case, against a Modern approach without an early ...d5 or ...c5.  If I see those moves, I don't aim for the huge center.  

So to sum it up, it has to do with going into territory that I am more comfortable and familiar with.  It is a solid approach, and it does well for me.  For someone else, maybe not so well.  But I offer these ideas so people can see what I do, and then maybe they can either try them and buy them, or toss them, or learn how to defend against them - no matter what, I think something is gained from it, whether from me, or from someone else. 

We could look into the 2. d4 move order and try to develop a way to create this system for White.  But there may be subtleties that prevent it also.  

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Ok this is a very reasonable answer! clearly if you use the bird you are more interested in the move order you posted. Players opening with e4 should consider 2.d4 instead i think. I can't see a  way for B to avoid your pet setup after that (at least not one which is as strong as c5 in the f4 move order).

Okay Bresando, here you go!  My system against a Modern, with 1. e4.  

Nice opening, very energic play :) Don't worry for the rest of the game i have played much worse stuff late at night  i think f4 sistems are expecially strong against hippo setups because of this early f4-f5 break possibility. Many people out here play this complex and fascinating hypermodern sistem a a way to avoid opening preparation, but in fact it requires a greater precision and flexibility than many standard openings!

At the least, you get an aggressive attack against f5 that they normally aren't ready for.  I think the Hippo is fine, but everyone wants to force 8 pawn and piece moves, and then even ...a6 and ...h6.  I have played Hippo setups before, but not so sure about forcing this like autopilot, you know?

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 14... Rxh6 15.Rf7+ is no problem for black i believe... try it out!

Of course a GM can care less about giving the opponent more options, since he is prepared against almost everything. Also, Nigel Davies quite likes to experiment unorthodox setups, but looking at his games he plays mainly 2.d4. I think 2.d4 is obiectively better, but sometimes even GM do not play for an opening advantage.

(Isn't the "Big Clamp" setup the one with pawns on c3d3e4f4?Looks interesting,but i guess pawnstorm is not the most common theme here?)

Looking to the chess365 master database 2.d4 is played 400 time more often than 2.f4, which also seems to score not that great for W(around 46%, probably because B was averagely higher rated). Play usually trasposed to a grand prix attack in a few moves. When your sistem is reached W scores well, although not as well as with the normal austrian attack. This proves nothing, but the relative frequency of the variations is a bit discouraging. I still don't get why W should prefer 2.f4 if the positions he wants can be reached easily via 2.d4 while denying B some very interesting options (assuming he is a 1.e4 player, BirdBrain of course is forced to use this move order).

Hippo is of course an interesting opening, but requires enormous understanding to avoid early knockouts, as the beginning of the posted game shows.

Anthony, my setups involve c3, not Nc3.  I know Nc3 is more mainline, and probably for good reason.  But mine involve c3.