Modern Defense (3. Nc3 d6)
1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6
The Modern Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A41, reached after 1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 7,556 times by this move order. White won 48%, 5% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 4. e4 (58% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.53 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. e4 Nf6 5. h3 O-O 6. Be3 e5)
- ECO
- A41
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/ppp1ppbp/3p2p1/8/2PP4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 768 | |
| 1500-1999 | 4,804 | |
| 2000+ | 1,984 | |
| All | 7,556 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. e4 Averbakh System | 4,376 (58%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 1,861 (25%) | |
| 4. Bf4 | 406 (5%) | |
| 4. e3 | 393 (5%) | |
| 4. Bg5 | 218 (3%) | |
| 4. g3 | 110 (1%) | |
| 4. h3 | 67 (1%) | |
| 4. f3 | 31 (0%) |
Master games
809 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 20%, Black 44%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) – KomodoDragon 3.3 (3583) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-08
- KomodoDragon 3.3 (3583) – Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-05
- LCZero 0.30-dag-8092b376-BT2-3 (3573) – Berserk 20230311 (3476) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-28
- Berserk 20230311 (3476) – LCZero 0.30-dag-8092b376-BT2-3 (3573) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-25
- Seer2.8.0 (3499) – Berserk13 (3540) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-04
Search all games of the Modern Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- whopper211 (2690) – Zenit-Champion (2698) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- TheEssssjuuus (2590) – IM Aphelios00 (2736) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- IM chessplayerpatzer (2675) – CSIM2026 (2639) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense 1. d4 g6
Continuations
- Modern Defense: Averbakh System A42 · 1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4
More Modern Defense lines (all)
- Modern Defense: Semi-Averbakh Variation, Polish Variation A04
- Modern Defense: Semi-Averbakh Variation, Pterodactyl Variation A04
- Modern Defense: Semi-Averbakh Variation, Pterodactyl Variation Accepted A04
- Modern Defense: Beefeater Variation A40
- Modern Defense: Lizard Defense, Pirc-Diemer Gambit A40
- Modern Defense: Neo-Modern Defense A41
- Modern Defense: Averbakh Variation, Pseudo-Sämisch A42
- Modern Defense: Kotov Variation A42
- Modern Defense: Randspringer Variation A42
- Modern Defense (1. e4 g6) B06
- Modern Defense (2. d4 Bg7) B06
- Modern Defense: Anti-Modern B06
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.