Modern Defense (1. e4 g6)

1. e4 g6

Modern Defense after 1. e4 g6 87654321abcdefgh

The Modern Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO B06, reached after 1. e4 g6. White is to move. 8 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 210,324 times by this move order. White won 49%, 4% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 2. d4 (45% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.55 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d5 4. exd5 Nf6)

ECO
B06
Moves
2 plies
FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppppp1p/6p1/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2
PGN
1. e4 g6

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average ratingGamesWhite / draw / Black
0-149974,48249%47%
1500-1999111,96949%47%
2000+23,87348%46%
All210,32449%47%

Most played moves

MoveGamesWhite / draw / Black
2. d495,046 (45%)50%46%
2. Nf352,927 (25%)49%47%
2. Bc418,275 (9%)49%47%
2. Nc314,309 (7%)50%46%
2. f49,716 (5%)49%47%
2. d35,174 (2%)48%48%
2. e53,535 (2%)47%49%
2. Qf32,596 (1%)48%48%

Master games

7,931 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 14%, Black 48%). The strongest:

Search all games of the Modern Defense and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Comes from

King's Pawn Game (1. e4) 1. e4

Continuations

More Modern Defense lines (all)

Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.