I wish to thank CBS for a very well-written (except for the lack of paragraphs) post. I agree with everything he said and I really enjoy the book. I think that it can be used with The Modern Tiger and Davies' very good Starting Out The Modern to construct a viable and hopefully not too theory-intense repertoire. 
As I proceed, I might try it as a basis for White, perhaps using Davies' 1. g3 DVD from Chessbase (note to Keano: it won't play on the telly). Possibly I could also start 1. a3 and then play as if I were Black (unless I meet 1...a6!!). 
As an aside, I also wish to thank JEH, especially, for years of interesting and frequently amusing posts on these sorts of lines. I almost always learn something from them.

This is not the kind of book that would appeal to someone searching for a complete repertoire in the style of a Quality Chess openings manual. It does not have the analytical rigor of Tiger's book, but there are a number of interesting ideas throughout the book. The style of the book fits well with the fluid mindset that I tend to see among successful Modern players. I have a friend in the 2300-2400 range who has a similar repertoire, but he is willing to play slightly offbeat King's Indian lines as Black and mainline systems with White like the Catalan, but often he will aim for English transpositions to avoid sharp lines like the Benoni. His knowledge of mainline theory is not always so exact, but he has a good feel for the associated structures in fianchetto openings. This book has an interesting philosophy on opening preparation and might be a good starting point for someone new to learning fianchetto openings. Before reading the book, I had been studying mainline theory in both the Pirc and King's Indian, and while reading I learned some new ideas that are sometimes only possible through Modern move orders. (Having the option of the Modern move order is one of advantages of playing the King's Indian alongside the Pirc.) The 4...Nc6 approach against the Austrian Attack is an interesting offbeat line that seems to fall between both Tiger's recommendations in terms of risk. I'll have to think more about 5.Bb5!?, as mentioned earlier in this thread, since it is not mentioned in the book. If you check 4.f4 Nc6 in Greet's repertoire book recommending the Austrian Attack, Greet only has a short note about 4...Nc6 with the suggestion that it will likely transpose to the 6.Be3 Pirc mainlines, but I don't see mention of any ideas involving the fluid center approach with ...e6 combined with 4...Nc6. Overall, 4.f4 Nc6 is an approach I may consider against lower rated players to avoid mainline theory, as some of the forcing 6.Bd3 Nc6 Austrian Pirc mainlines can peter out quickly to drawish positions. Another interesting idea in the book is that Black can play both ...a6 and ...c6 (to prepare ...b5) with a King's Indian move order against a standard English setup with Nf3, c4, g3 when White refrains from d4. This meshes with either a Panno or Kavalek approach against the Fianchetto King's Indian (both are mentioned in the book). If the authors had attempted to write a complete repertoire book based on all the lines they suggested, the book would have become incredibly bloated. Consequently, a lot of the coverage is sketchy and incomplete in many of the mainlines, and often more analysis is spent on rarer pet continuations favored by Shoker. While there are many lines you can find in more detail in other books like Tiger's, I like the variety of ideas and there are several interesting offbeat twists that could be a good starting point for independent investigations. I admit that a lot of work is left to the reader, but I think that is the nature of book in the way it is intended to be read. The "modern" approach to opening preparation as detailed in the introduction is variable and open-ended. In most cases, I wouldn't use this book as a primary reference for opening theory, but I think it is useful for supplementary ideas and inspiration. I found several ideas exploiting the flexibility of the Modern move order (1...g6) that could be useful surprise weapons to sharpen the struggle and avoid the main highways of opening theory. In nearly every section, I found a new idea that I had not seen in earlier books on the Pirc/Modern complex.

JonathanB wrote on 09/29/16 at 19:47:49:


I briefly switched from playing 1. .. Nf6 against 1. Nf3 to playing 1. .. d5. The logic was that if they played 2. c4, you met it with 2. .. d4 and then played a system with .. f6 and .. e5. If they played 2. g3 you would follow up with 2. .. Nc6 with a reversed 150 in prospect. If they played 3. d4, you would play .. Bg4 and if 4. h3, play Bf5. You can then follow up with .. Qd7 and .. 0-0-0 making king side castling difficult for White. 

That's all sophisticated stuff, but you have to be prepared to play the position arising after 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 to which they can transpose by abandoning their initial refusal to occupy the centre with pawns. 

The "can't be bothered to learn very much about the English or Reti" approach is to just meet 1. Nf3 or 1. c4 with 1. .. Nf6 2. .. g6 3. .. Bg7 4. .. O-O and 5. .. d6. You have to know Kings Indian stuff and be confident that the KID isn't complete rubbish.

A point of 1. Nf3, even if you were intending always g3 is to keep the opponent in the dark about your intentions as they still don't know if you will go e.g. d4/c4 without one

JonathanB wrote on 09/29/16 at 07:54:17:


There are sort of two Black repertoires in the book that I've also come across in my Modern journey. 

1. Gurg vs e4 and Nc6 Modern vs d4 which I got originally from a nice old book called "Opening Tactics for Club Players" by Sergiu Samarian, which despite it's title contained a number of repertoire selections, including the KIA giving a fianchetto solution! Then I picked this up again from Norwood's book on the Modern.

The Gurg, with its Caro-Kann like c6 (you can even start with 1. ...c6) is pretty solid.

The Nc6 modern with lines like 1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 Nc6 5. d5 Ne5 6. f4 Nd7 where you've given white two moves for free over 1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 Nd7  are what I'd describe as solid, but then you've trying to provoke White into coming at you full tilt and hoping they will fall on their face 

2. Tiger's Modern (a6) vs e4 and the Averbakh (early e5 allowing ending) vs d4, which was expanded in detail in the Modern Tiger, and verbagly diluted in a Move by Move book. 

There is also a solid option offered against the Austrian with 6. ..Nc6, as already covered in the Modern Tiger.

Hence solid and flexible 

kylemeister wrote on 09/28/16 at 22:18:15:


They also include 1. Nf3 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. Bf4, a shocking use of a non-Fianchetto 

Not seen anything in there apart fron a Reveresed Pirc for 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nc6 as now d4 would be a different Chigorin (as recommended in Davie's Dymanic Reti), but at least it's one with a fianchetto 

Although the Nc6 stuff is fine in theory, it requires a repertoire combination from Black which is pretty rare at my level, and the blurb does say this book is for club players who's likely opponents won't likely have specialised anti-KIA lines, and if they do, will not have the middle game experience.

With 1. Nf3, you've also got 1. ...f5 2. d3, however this book has a solution with a fianchetto in it for some reason.

If you are fianchetto or bust, then you can go 1. g3, but my fianchetto solution doesn't involve fianchettos all the time!

JonathanB wrote on 09/28/16 at 21:02:46:

Agreed, they should explain it. But if g3 is played soon in every line, the reason for 1.Nf3 is pretty obvious, isn't it? 

There must be some line(s) after 1.g3 e5 they want to avoid, and 1.Nf3 makes Black work harder to get ...e5 in, at the cost of losing some non-Nf3 options. 

Perhaps they're even avoiding the reversed Pirc by meeting an early ...Nc6 with d4 and a Chigorin transposition? Haven't seen the book myself.