Scan for captures every move
Your misses of Nxd4 and Qxc5 cost you over 20 win-chance points each. Before any quiet move, list every capture you can make and check if one wins something.
← zinedine-zedog / Openings
Modern Defense
Your best opening by results, but one missed capture keeps costing you.
Score48%+1% vs your average
Win chance after move 1249%−1% vs your average
Blunders per game2.38+0.69 vs your average
Clock left at move 1010:42+49s vs your average
1
23
4
5
6
7
h8
g
f
e
dcba1. e4 g6
What it says about you
Your opponents play 1.e4 and you answer 1...g6, so the Modern Defense is your choice. You like a flexible setup where the bishop sits on g7 and the king castles quickly. It's working: this is your best-scoring opening. You're comfortable letting the opponent take the centre first and fighting back later.
How you play it
You score 53% here (9 wins, 8 losses), well above your overall 44.5%. Your win chance is about 52% at move 12 and move 20, so the openings end roughly equal and you win games later on. The weak spot is accuracy: you average about 2.2 blunders per game, compared with 1.6 overall, plus about 1.6 mistakes or blunders in the first 15 moves. Most losses (5 of 8) were decided in the middlegame, often by missing a tactic or allowing a mating attack. The Norwegian Rat line (3 games, 33%) has gone worse than your usual g6 setup (13 games, 54%).
Last 90 days: 24 games, 48% score.
What you're missing
- 01
You're missing free captures. At move 22 you played d4 when you could take with Qxc5 (win chance went from 39% to 8%). At move 17 you played e5 instead of Nxd4 and walked into a fork.
- 02
You're not checking for checkmate threats. At move 31 you played Rde8 when Qxg4 was needed, and your win chance went from 47% straight to 0% because it allowed mate. Allowing a mating attack decided 2 of your 8 losses.
- 03
You blunder more here than anywhere else. At about 2.2 blunders per game, compared with 1.6 overall, the extra loose moves are cancelling out a setup that otherwise works.
- 04
You don't finish off won games. You got a winning position in 14 games but only won 8.
How to improve it
- 01
Keep to one simple setup: 1...g6, 2...Bg7, 3...d6, 4...Nf6, then castle. Don't move the same knight twice early (like ...Nh5), which is where the Norwegian Rat games went wrong.
- 02
Before every move, ask: Can I capture something for free? Two of your recent mistakes were captures you didn't take.
- 03
Once you've castled, watch your king. If your opponent's queen and pieces head towards it, stop your own plan and defend first.
- 04
If the opponent puts pawns on d4 and e4, hit them back with ...c5 or ...e5 once your pieces are developed. That's the whole point of letting them take the centre.
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 | 16 | 50% |
| Norwegian Rat | 3 | 33% |
Winning positions converted here: 59% (10 of 17).
Recent mistakes in this opening
Your move in red, Stockfish's in black.
123
4
5
6
7h8g
f
edcbavs abd08x (358) · 15-10-26 →
123
4
5
6
7h8
gf
edcbavs Korgan-Mell (416) · 12-10-26 →
123
4
5
6
7h8
gfe
d
cb
avs the-goat121112222 (384) · 11-10-26 →
123
4
5
6
7h8
gf
edc
b
a
vs the-goat121112222 (384) · 11-10-26 →
Next steps
Check your king before moving
Ask what the opponent's queen and rooks are attacking near your king. At move 31 you missed that you needed Qxg4, and the game went from 47% to lost.
Drop the early ...Nh5 lines
Stick with g6, Bg7, d6, Nf6 and castling. Your standard setup scores 54% while the Norwegian Rat line scores 33%.
Drill it
Puzzles built from your own mistakes in the Modern Defense, and every game you've played in it.
Breakdown written when you had 17 games in this opening; the numbers above are current.