Tree path 4 levels King's Pawn Game › Modern Defense › Modern Defense › Standard Line

B06

Modern Defense: Standard Line

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Overview

Modern Defense: Standard Line is a variation within the Semi-Open Games family, indexed as ECO B06.

The Semi-Open Games group covers semi-open games — replies to 1.e4 where Black declines the symmetrical 1…e5 in favour of an asymmetric pawn structure.

It is reached after 5 plies of play, with the move sequence 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3.

It is a variation of Modern Defense, which itself descends from the root opening King's Pawn Game.

It is the root of 7 named variations, with Modern Defense: Anti-Modern, Modern Defense: Gurgenidze Defense, Modern Defense: Lizard Defense, Mittenberger Gambit, and others among the most studied.

In total, the branch covers 17 sub-variations across all depths.

Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.

ECO code: B06
Group: Semi-Open Games (B)
Plies: 5
Parent: Modern Defense
Direct variations: 7
Total in subtree: 17

This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Statistics from Lichess

6,432,078 games · White 52.5% / Draw 4.7% / Black 42.7%

Moves	Games	W / D / B
d6	3,252,052
e6	761,870
c5	726,783
c6	634,299
b6	343,119
Nf6	183,622
a6	143,902
Nc6	117,920

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:06:26

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Variations (7)

Show all 17 sub-variations (full subtree)

Overview

Statistics from Lichess

Variations (7)

Related variations at the same level