Play 2...g6 more often
Move more of your 1.e4 d6 2.d4 games into the Modern. It scores 68.75% against 45.4% for 2...Nf6. Track 20 games and compare.
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Modern Defense
Your best Black opening: 68.75% and only 0.33 blunders a game.
Score69%+20% vs your average
Win chance after move 1245%−3% vs your average
Blunders per game0.33−0.57 vs your average
Clock left at move 109:30−8s vs your average
1
23
4
5
6
7
h8
g
f
e
dcba1. e4 d6 2. d4 g6
What it says about you
After 1.e4 d6 2.d4 you choose 2...g6 instead of 2...Nf6 in some games, and it makes a big difference. Keeping the knight on g8 lets you delay commitments, and that suits you. You play with more patience, and more accurately, when the position stays flexible.
How you play it
You score 68.75% (16-7-1), your best Black opening and one of your best overall, holding at 66.7% over the last 9 games. You leave the opening slightly worse (44.6 at move 12, below your 47.3 baseline) but improve to 47.1 by move 20, so you outplay opponents in the middlegame. Blunders are just 0.33 per game (0.08 early errors), a third of your usual rate. You converted 15 of 16 winning positions, far above your 70% overall. It is only 24 games, but the gap to your Pirc (45.4% over 183) is too big to ignore.
Last 90 days: 9 games, 67% score.
What you're missing
- 01
Tactics while defending. 31...Qa4 missed 31...Rxb4 (49% down to 27%), and 45...Qd8 walked into a fork at 36.8s (50% down to 5%).
- 02
Recapture choices. 20...dxe5 (79% down to 54%, when 20...Nd5 was best) and 21...Bd5, losing a rook in a trade (56% down to 29%), came back to back in the same kind of structure. Ask what each recapture gives away before playing it.
- 03
How often you play it. 24 games against 183 in the Pirc, even though the Modern scores 23 points higher. You are not missing a move here; you are missing a decision.
How to improve it
- 01
Learn the Tiger's Modern ideas: ...a6, ...b5, ...Bb7 and ...Nd7 against quiet setups, with ...c5 or ...e5 breaks when White commits.
- 02
Against 3.Nc3 with f4 or Be3/Qd2, ...c6 with ...b5 and ...Nd7 keeps your structure solid and your king uncommitted. Delaying ...Nf6 takes away White's usual target for e5 and Bh6 attacks.
- 03
Check trades carefully when the centre opens. In the ...dxe5 structures, ...Nd5 and ...Qxd4 often keep your pieces active, while an automatic pawn recapture can leave your pieces loose.
- 04
Study Colin McNab's and Tiger Hillarp Persson's games in the Modern. Their games show how to handle the space disadvantage without panicking.
Where it goes wrong
Your losses in this opening, by where and how the decisive mistake happened.
Phase of the decisive mistake
What the mistake was
Variations you reach
| with | 11 | 64% |
| with O O O | 11 | 68% |
Winning positions converted here: 94% (15 of 16).
Recent mistakes in this opening
Your move in red, Stockfish's in black.
1
2
34
5
67
h8
gf
e
d
c
ba
vs cauespeedruim (2125) · 27-09-26 →
1
2
34
56
7
h8
gfe
d
cb
a
vs cauespeedruim (2125) · 27-09-26 →
123
4
56
7h8g
f
e
dcb
a
vs Noorian1341 (2157) · 12-07-26 →
123
4
567h8g
f
e
dcb
a
vs Noorian1341 (2157) · 12-07-26 →
Next steps
Build a Modern repertoire file
Write down setups against 3.Nc3 with f4, Be3/Qd2, and the classical 3.Nf3, including your ...c6/...b5 plans.
Check trades in open centres
Before each recapture after ...dxe5 or ...Bxd5, check the opponent's replies. Two recent back-to-back mistakes came from recaptures.
Drill it
Puzzles built from your own mistakes in the Modern Defense, and every game you've played in it.