Modern Attack

The Modern Attack, 3. d4, is also known as the Steinitz Attack or Steinitz Variation, although some sources reserve that name for a later branch. Instead of grabbing the e5-pawn, White counterattacks in the center and lets Black decide which pawn to capture. The game opens quickly, and Black can no longer rely on the symmetrical knight retreat that underpins the Classical Variation. Engines rate the position as roughly balanced, and White scores somewhat better in practice.

In the main theoretical line, 3...Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5, the e-pawns are exchanged. Because Black has already committed the d-pawn to d5, there is no ...d6 available to chase the knight from e5. The modern 5...Nd7 now dominates, while 5...Bd6 is the older, symmetrical treatment. One branch of it, the Trifunovic Variation, runs 6. O-O O-O 7. c4 Bxe5. Black can also deviate with 4...Nc6, the Murrey Variation. White players seeking an unbalanced game sometimes prefer 4. dxe5, or 4. Bd3 d5 5. dxe5. The immediate 4. Nxe5 is uncommon, since 4...d6 transposes to the Classical Variation.

In the online database the most frequent reply is 3...exd4. White then gains time with 4. e5 Ne4. The Center Attack, 5. Qxd4 d5 6. exd6 Nxd6 7. Nc3, clears the center entirely, and Black's knight has used several tempi to reach d6. Steinitz favored 5. Qe2, which pins the knight against the king along the e-file. The Bardeleben Variation answers it with 5...Nc5 6. Nxd4 Nc6. The Tal Gambit, 5. Bb5, is a rarer try.

The Symmetrical Variation, 3...d5, returns the question to White. After 4. Nxe5 Nxe4 5. Bd3 it transposes to the main line. The capture 4...dxe4? is weaker, because 5. Bc4 threatens f7, and 5...Be6 6. Bxe6 fxe6 leaves Black with doubled, isolated e-pawns. 3...d6 leads to the Nimzowitsch Variation of the Philidor Defense, and 3...Nc6 is a less common reply after which White scores well.

Jaenisch credited Petrov with the first games featuring 3. d4. Steinitz recommended it in The Modern Chess Instructor (1889), arguing that it offered White more than 3. Nxe5. At Saint Petersburg 1895–96 he played it three times against Pillsbury, winning twice and drawing once. The move became fashionable in the 1990s, when Kasparov and Ivanchuk adopted it. It has gained further ground in the 21st century but remains less popular than 3. Nxe5.