The Modern Tiger

Stor utvidelse og atskillig forvandling fra Tiger's Modern for 9 år siden til nye "The Modern Tiger"! GM Tiger Hillarp Persson har høstet mange nye erfaringer i sitt Moderne forsvar, blant annet med 1 e4 g6 2 d4 Lg7 3 Sc3 d6 4 Le3 a6!

Fra forordet til Tiger:

I have noticed a couple of general trends in the first decade-and-a-half of the new millennium. The first trend is the return of Classical Chess, with more and more of the world’s elite playing classical openings. The second is an enhanced focus on fighting and stretching the limits of the possible. Whereas the first trend clearly collides with the Modern, the second makes me more optimistic about its future.

When I wrote Tiger’s Modern, it was at a time when 4...a6 was only the third most common move after 4.Be3. However, the last ten years have seen a dramatic shift, with 4...a6 taking over as clearly the most common choice. I used to know almost no ‘theory’ on the Modern before I wrote a book about it, but I still managed to achieve good results. However, since then the ...a6 Modern has received more attention, and it has become more difficult to use it as a weapon of surprise. Today it is more important to be well prepared and know a number of concrete lines. Still, if you compare the Modern to any main Sicilian variation, as well as the French, Caro-Kann or just about any other opening, you still need far less theoretical knowledge to be able to play it.

Looking Back, Moving Forwards

The development of computer engines in the last decade has changed the way chess is played, and it has also changed the way I play the Modern. Before the era of super-strong engines I was happy to play a complex and unclear position more than once, whereas now I prefer not to repeat these lines too often, because I do not want to get involved in lines that my opponent might have analysed for hours with an engine. This is especially true of certain variations in the first chapter, where there are a number of lines that are really pressing the limits of the possible (which is the reason why I have given an alternative set-up for Black in Chapter 2). The good news is that there is still plenty of room for new ideas in this arena.

I have seen some improvements in the commentary to Modern games in the chess media of the twenty-first century, but there is still some dreadful ‘information’ being circulated. It is still easy to be misled by a strong engine unless you work with it rather than for it, and I am in no way immune to this misuse myself. That is why “all progress depends on the unreasonable man” more now than ever before.

This is not the tale of the “ugly duckling”, where in the end we come to realize that the duckling is in fact a swan. No, this duck is a duck, but I like this duck. It’s a unique duck in its own right, and it may even turn into a hippopotamus.

Forlagets omtale:

Tiger’s Modern from 2005 is a modern classic, but has fallen out of date. Instead of writing a typical second edition, Swedish grandmaster Tiger Hillarp Persson has chosen to write a new book on the same topic, building on the original framework, re-analysing every line, and adding over forty new illustrative games to his unique interpretation of the Modern Defence.

The Modern Tiger offers a complete repertoire against 1.e4, as well as against 1.d4 when White continues with c4 and e4. For added flexibility, both a Modern line and a Pirc line are given against the critical Austrian Attack.

GM Tiger Hillarp Persson is a Modern aficionado who is widely admired for his creative style and original ideas.