Chapter 4 The Modern Variation 5.c6 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.0-0 c6 Modern? Everything was modern once. Although the American player Eugene Delmar (1841-1909) tried 5.

c6 together with 5.Nf6 (which is our treatment here) a handful of times, the idea became more common later, in the hands of Soviet GM Alexander Tolush (1910-1969) as the notable example. Both of these players were in the world's top twenty at some time or other. This Modern Variation is arguably the best Bird. Not as wild as the uncommon 5.g6 and more careful than 5.Bc5 though the latter remains the most popular. Let's see what it is like.

[diagram] 6.Bc4 The customary and best retreat. (a) 6.Ba4 Nf6 (6.g6 transposes to game 23, Giorgadze-Gurevich) 7.d3 (alternatives, 7.c3 d3 with .d7-d5 as the follow-up unless 8.

e5 [8.Qf3 game 35, Ilyin Zhenevsky-Ragozin] 8.Nd5 9.Qf3 Qg5 10.Qxd3 Qxg2+!=+; 7.e5 Ne4 8.c3 d3 hunting down White's light-square bishop; 7.Re1 Bc5!? 8.

d3 0-0=) 7.d5 8.e5 (8.Bg5 dxe4 9.dxe4 Qa5 forks the white bishops, 10.Bxf6 gxf6t; 8.exd5 game 1, Anderssen-Bird) 8.Nd7 9.

c3 Bc5 10.f4 (10.Qg4 g6=) 10.0-0 11.Kh1 Re8 12.b4 Bb6 13.Bb2 a5 with a messy queenside, which suits Black in Bird's Defense. (b) One thing to be said for 6.

Be2 is that it keeps the bishop safely away from harm. 6.d5 7.d3 (7.exd5 Qxd5 game 25, Fuchs-Stadlinger) 7.Bd6 8.f4 (8.exd5 cxd5 9.

Nd2 Ne7 is level but if you disagree, because you do not like the look of Black's d-pawns, you should not be playing Bird's Defense where they often crop up) 8.Ne7 and now 9.e5?! is a strategic error made worse by 9.Bc7 10.g4? (to stop .Ne7-f5) 10.h5 11.gxh5 Bh3u.

(c) 6.Bd3?! d5 7.exd5 Qxd5 8.Re1+ Be6=. 6.Nf6 The natural move for the knight, especially in this case as it strikes an unprotected pawn. It is better in some ways than 6.d5 7.

exd5 cxd5 (there being no knight covering d5) 8.Bb5+ when White is given opportunities to exchange his awkward bishop, i.e., the one that attracts black pawns in the Bird. There is also a trap after the bishop check that has caught several Blacks (and been overlooked by a few Whites), 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Re1+ Be7?? 10.Qg4+-.

For the improvement, 9.Ne7, see game 29, Rudd-Thomas. Incidentally, 9.Qe2+ (in place of 9.Re1+) might be answered by 9.Ne7 10.Re1 h5!? intending .Rh8-h6-e6.

6.g6?! may not transpose to the fianchetto lines of Chapter 2 as the white bishop already trained on f7 makes a difference. For example, 7.d3 Bg7 8.Qf3 Qe7 9.c3y.