B06 Modern Defence (1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nc3 Nd7 5.Bc4 c6)

To the most often played move 1.e4, at least when looking at my reference database, my opponent chose to reply with 1...g6 (91817 games), which is the 7th most often tried move. More commonly are seen the moves 1...c5 (1281179 games), 1...e5 (763333 games), 1...e6 (418509 games), 1...c6 (228415 games), 1...d6 (143373 games) and 1...d5 (123256 games). The move 1...g6 was played by Magnus Carlsen against Arkadij Naiditsch on the third round of the 3rd Grenke Chess Classic on February 4th, 2015, for instance. That game ended in favor of Arkadij Naiditsch. It has also been played by very strong players like Levon Aronian, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. To 1...g6 I have mostly replied with 2.d4, like I did in this game. It is also the most popular choice in the games found in my database, it was played in 89112 games. Best players that have played the move are Carlsen, Kasparov, Wesley So and Maxime Vachier Lagrave.

The next move 2...Bg7 (91836 games) was also the most played response and it has a score of 52.4%. My third move, Nf3 (20395 games), is the second most commonly played move and it has a score of 49.5%. 3.Nf3 has been played by Magnus Carlsen with great success in 2016, 4 games and 4 wins! Not that the wins were due to that move. The most often played move, 3.Nc3 (50345 games), has a score of 54.5%. The 3rd move by my opponent was d6 (20651 games, score 49.3%), which again was the most played move. The next move 4.Nc3 (7271 games, score 49.8%) was also the most often played move in my database. Then, on move 4, my opponent played Nd7, which was the 4th most popular move, played in 987 games (score 55.8%). More commonly seen moves were 4...Nf6 (6959 games), 4...a6 (2664 games) and 4...c6 (1676 games). Even with my 5th move, Bc4 (387 games, score 58.3%), we were able to follow the moves that had been played by much stronger players, such as Vladimir Akopian and Lazaro Bruzon Batista. The reply 5...c6 (28 games), followed a path that no Grand Master has played, at least according to my database. The first move that had not been seen before was 8.a3. The position after 7...a5 had occurred in 3 games before and in all of them White had played 8.a4.

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.18"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "Kojjootti"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "1799"] [BlackElo "1713"] [Annotator "Stockfish 9 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 4. Nc3 Nd7 5. Bc4 c6 {B06 Modern Defence} 6. O-O b5 (6... e6 7. Bf4 Qc7 8. d5 e5 9. dxc6 bxc6 10. Be3 Ngf6 11. Qd2 Nb6 12. Bxb6 axb6 13. Rfd1 Ke7 14. a4 Ng4 15. Qe3 h5 16. h3 Bh6 17. Qd3 Be6 18. Bxe6 fxe6 { 0-1 (18) Trinh,T (2045)-Laptos,K (2231) Montreal 2003}) (6... Ngf6 7. Ng5 O-O 8. d5 cxd5 9. Bxd5 Nxd5 10. exd5 Nf6 11. Re1 Re8 12. Qf3 Bf5 13. Nge4 h6 14. Nxf6+ exf6 15. Ne4 Re7 16. Bf4 Bxe4 17. Rxe4 Rxe4 18. Qxe4 a5 19. b4 f5 20. Qe1 Bxa1 21. Qxa1 {Nyilas,B (1001)-Cazan,A (1199) Baile Felix 2017 0-1}) 7. Bb3 a5 8. a3 $146 {Black has a cramped position} (8. a4 b4 9. Ne2 Nb6 (9... Ba6 10. Re1 e6 11. c3 c5 12. cxb4 cxb4 13. Bf4 e5 14. dxe5 dxe5 15. Qd5 Ke7 16. Qxf7+ Kd6 17. Rad1+ Kc7 18. Nxe5 Ngf6 19. Nxd7+ Kc8 20. Rc1+ Kb7 21. Nxf6+ {1-0 (21) Fell,S-McDougall,E Sydney 2002}) (9... e6 10. Bg5 Qc7 11. d5 cxd5 12. exd5 e5 13. Re1 h6 14. Bh4 g5 15. Bg3 Ne7 16. c3 f5 17. h3 f4 18. Bh2 Nc5 19. cxb4 axb4 20. Bc4 O-O 21. Rc1 Rxa4 22. Nxf4 gxf4 23. Nxe5 Bxe5 24. Rxe5 {Pletinckx, E-Peran,P Cappelle la Grande 1989 0-1}) 10. Be3 Nf6 11. e5 Nfd5 12. Qd2 Nxe3 13. fxe3 d5 14. c3 bxc3 15. Qxc3 O-O 16. Qxc6 Ba6 17. Qc2 Bh6 18. Qd2 Bc4 19. Bxc4 Nxc4 20. Qd3 Nxb2 21. Qc3 Nc4 22. Nf4 g5 {Zeleny,T (1785)-Hoff,T (2050) Plzen 2000 1-0 (42)}) (8. Ng5 e6 9. Bxe6 Nh6 $16) 8... Bb7 $2 (8... Nb6 $5 $14 {is worth looking at}) 9. Ng5 $16 e6 10. Qf3 {White has a mate threat} (10. Bxe6 $5 fxe6 11. Nxe6 Qe7 12. Nc7+ Kf7 13. Nxa8 Bxa8 $18) 10... Qe7 11. d5 { White threatens to win material: d5xe6} (11. e5 dxe5 12. Nxb5 Ndf6 $14) 11... Ne5 {Black threatens to win material: Ne5xf3} (11... Nc5 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. Qg3 $11) 12. Qg3 (12. Qe2 $142 h6 13. Nf3 Nxf3+ 14. Qxf3 $14) 12... Nc4 $4 (12... exd5 13. exd5 Nh6 $14) 13. dxe6 $18 fxe6 14. Rd1 Rd8 (14... Be5 15. f4 Bxc3 16. bxc3 O-O-O $18) 15. Be3 $4 {throws away a nice position} (15. a4 {might be the shorter path} Bxc3 16. Qxc3 Nf6 17. axb5 cxb5 18. Bxc4 bxc4 19. Qxc4 Rd7 $18) 15... h6 $4 {hands over the advantage to the opponent} (15... Nxe3 $142 { and Black can hope to live} 16. Qxe3 Bc8 $11) 16. Nf3 $4 {White is ruining his position} (16. Bxc4 $142 $5 hxg5 17. Bxg5 $18) 16... Nxe3 $16 17. fxe3 (17. Qxg6+ $6 Qf7 18. Qxf7+ Kxf7 19. fxe3 Bxc3 20. bxc3 a4 $14) 17... g5 18. Rd2 $4 {there were better ways to keep up the pressure} (18. e5 d5 19. Rf1 $14) 18... Nf6 $4 {allows the opponent back into the game} (18... Bxc3 $5 19. bxc3 Nf6 $17 ) 19. Rad1 (19. Nd4 d5 20. exd5 cxd5 21. Ndxb5 $11 (21. Ncxb5 $2 Ne4 22. Qe1 Nxd2 23. Qxd2 O-O $19)) 19... d5 $11 20. exd5 exd5 (20... Nxd5 $2 21. e4 O-O 22. exd5 exd5 23. Re1 Qc5+ 24. Kh1 $18) 21. e4 Nh5 (21... O-O 22. exd5 cxd5 23. Re1 $11 (23. Nxd5 $143 Bxd5 24. Bxd5+ Rxd5 (24... Nxd5 $143 25. Rxd5 Rxd5 26. Rxd5 $17) 25. Rxd5 Qe3+ 26. Qf2 Nxd5 27. Rxd5 Qe4 $17)) 22. Qg4 {White threatens to win material: Qg4xh5} (22. Qe1 $142 Bxc3 23. bxc3 $14) 22... Nf4 $4 {gives the opponent counterplay} (22... Nf6 $142 {this is the best bet to save the position} 23. Qf5 O-O 24. exd5 cxd5 $11) 23. exd5 $18 Kf8 $4 { shortens the misery for Black} (23... Bc8 $142 24. Qg3 a4 $18) 24. dxc6 Rxd2 25. Rxd2 (25. Nxd2 $6 Bd4+ 26. Kf1 Bxc6 $18) 25... Bxc6 26. Qf5+ (26. Qc8+ $142 {secures victory} Be8 27. g3 $18) 26... Bf6 $14 27. Qc8+ {White forks: c6} (27. Kf1 $142 a4 28. Nd5 Nxd5 29. Bxd5 $14) 27... Kg7 $4 (27... Qe8 $142 {the rescuing straw} 28. Qxe8+ Kxe8 $14) 28. Qxc6 $18 Rd8 29. Rxd8 Qxd8 30. Qb7+ Qe7 31. Qxe7+ Bxe7 32. Kf1 (32. Nxb5 $142 {and White can already relax} Bc5+ 33. Kf1 $18) 32... Ne6 (32... b4 {the only chance to get some counterplay} 33. axb4 axb4 $18) 33. Bxe6 Bf6 (33... b4 {hardly improves anything} 34. axb4 Bxb4 35. Ne4 $18) 34. Ne4 (34. Ne4 Bxb2 35. Bd7 $18) 1-0

Two of the highest rated games that reached the position after 5...c6 can be seen below, according to my reference database.

[Event "Bundesliga 9192"] [Site "Germany"] [Date "1991.??.??"] [Round "?.5"] [White "Keitlinghaus, Ludger"] [Black "Fritsche, Lutz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "2445"] [BlackElo "2395"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "1991.10.12"] [EventType "team-tourn"] [EventRounds "15"] [EventCountry "GER"] [SourceTitle "GER-chT"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] [WhiteTeam "Dortmund"] [BlackTeam "Koblenz"] [WhiteTeamCountry "GER"] [BlackTeamCountry "GER"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 Nd7 5. Bc4 c6 6. Ng5 d5 7. Qf3 Nh6 8. exd5 cxd5 9. Bxd5 O-O 10. O-O e5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Qd1 Qb6 13. Bb3 Bf5 14. Be3 Qa5 15. Qd5 Nc6 16. Nf3 Bg4 17. Qxa5 Nxa5 18. Bd4 Bxf3 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. gxf3 Rfd8 21. Bd5 Rac8 22. Rfd1 Nf5 23. Rd3 Nc6 24. Bxc6 Rxd3 25. cxd3 Rxc6 26. Rd1 Nd4 27. Kg2 Rc5 28. f4 b5 29. Rd2 Rf5 30. Kg3 Ne6 31. Ne2 Rd5 32. d4 b4 33. Kf3 Kf6 34. Ke3 Ra5 35. b3 Nc7 36. Rc2 Nd5+ 37. Kd3 Ke6 38. Rc6+ Kd7 39. Rc5 Rxc5 40. dxc5 Nc7 41. Nd4 Nd5 42. Ne2 1-0 [Event "Budapest FS02 GM"] [Site "Budapest"] [Date "2000.02.12"] [Round "8"] [White "Zhang, Pengxiang"] [Black "Burnett, Ronald"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "2562"] [BlackElo "2437"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2000.02.05"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "HUN"] [EventCategory "9"] [SourceTitle "CBM 076"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2000.05.31"] 1. e4 g6 2. d4 d6 3. Nc3 Nd7 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bc4 c6 6. a4 d5 7. exd5 Nb6 8. Qe2 Nxd5 9. Bxd5 cxd5 10. Qb5+ Bd7 11. Qxb7 Nf6 12. O-O Qc8 13. Qxc8+ Rxc8 14. Re1 Bg4 15. Ne5 Be6 16. f3 Nd7 17. Bf4 Nxe5 18. Bxe5 Bxe5 19. Rxe5 Kd7 20. Re2 Rc4 21. Rd2 Rb8 22. Nb5 a6 23. b3 Rcc8 24. Na3 h5 25. Re1 Bf5 26. Re3 Rc7 27. Kf2 f6 28. Ke1 g5 29. Kd1 g4 30. Kc1 e6 31. Kb2 Kd6 32. Rc3 Rxc3 33. Kxc3 Rg8 34. fxg4 Rxg4 35. g3 h4 36. gxh4 Be4 37. Rf2 f5 38. Nb1 Rxh4 39. Nd2 Rh3+ 40. Kb2 Rh4 41. b4 f4 42. c4 e5 43. c5+ Ke6 44. dxe5 Kxe5 45. b5 axb5 46. axb5 Rh8 47. Kc3 d4+ 48. Kb4 d3 49. c6 Rf8 50. Kc5 Ra8 51. Nc4+ Kf5 52. c7 f3 53. Nd6+ Kf4 54. Nxe4 Kxe4 55. b6 Rc8 56. Kc4 1-0