Modern defence

The Modern defence is a chess opening. It is almost the only defence which can be played against any opening move; and it may be played as an opening move itself. It consists in the immediate fianchetto of the king's bishop (KB). The first moves might be:
The opening is hypermodern. Black does not occupy the centre, he counter-attacks the centre built up by his opponent. He will probably play ...d6 next, then develop his K-side, then perhaps counter-attack the white centre with ...c5. The system is extremely flexible, and there are many transpositions. There are players, including a few grandmasters, who play almost nothing but the Modern with white and black.