The Modern Defense: Norwegian Defense reaches a named position after 2 moves: 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Nf6
In practical games, this line matters because the early pawn and piece choices decide which middlegame plans are natural. Use the board above to learn the move order, then complete Practice without hints before adding the opening to your regular queue.
If this exact branch does not appear in your games, study the related lines below. Openings often transpose, and recognizing the family pattern is more useful than memorizing one narrow sequence.
The idea behind this line
Black fianchettos the king bishop and delays the central pawn choice until White reveals a setup.
What to look for
- Build a strong center with e4 and d4.
- Develop before pushing the kingside pawns.
- Use e5 when it gains time on a defender.
Position details
This line branches from Modern Defense with d4.
rnbqkbnr/pppppp1p/6p1/8/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2