user109: I heard from IM Andrew Martin that if you are unsure what to play as Black, you should play the following moves no matter what White plays (not sure I agree with him saying no matter what White plays though).  Those moves are g6, Bg7, and c5 with the idea of opening up the c file and bringing your Queen out to a5 or b6.  Has anyone had any success with this approach?  He specifically didn't mention the Robatsch (Modern) defense, but that is initially what this appears to be.
[FEN ""]
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c5


user12953: As a practioner of the Modern myself, I must say I believe this is a clear over-simplification. The line with 3.. c5 is sometimes not the optimal. For example, when white plays 3. Nf3 then 3.. c5 which invites 4. dxc5 as per the below makes for a game that's not easy to play for black.
[FEN "rnb1k1nr/pp1pppbp/6p1/2q5/4P3/N1P2N2/PP3PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 1 6"]
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 c5 4. dxc5 Qa5+
5. c3 Qxc5 6. Na3

Here, it's better to stay flexible and play 3.. d6, and then if white plays 4. Nc3, it's possible to play 4.. a6, or of course to transpose to the Pirc with 4. Nf6.

user1856: That's pretty much a slightly worse version of the (Hyper) Accelerated Dragon. 1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 (but instead of playing cxd4 you play Bg7). The Modern Defense/Pirc is most likely just an inferior version of the Sicilian. Black would ideally like to play c5 and cxd4 in most cases anyway, but could be making it more difficult for himself to do so (white has extra options with dxc5 or d5 now when black pushes c5). But in practice Modern/Pirc is still playable because delaying c5 (or omitting it) could avoid some potentially early sharp lines.

user291: There is a whole book about this system, The Sniper: Play 1...g6, ...Bg7 and ...c5! by FM Charlie Storey, published by Everyman. It has gotten mixed reviews on Amazon and on the ChessPublishing forums.

109: <p>I heard from <code>IM Andrew Martin</code> that if you are unsure what to play as <code>Black</code>, you should play the following moves no matter what <code>White</code> plays (not sure I agree with him saying no matter what <code>White</code> plays though).  Those moves are <code>g6</code>, <code>Bg7</code>, and <code>c5</code> with the idea of opening up the <code>c</code> file and bringing your Queen out to <code>a5</code> or <code>b6</code>.  Has anyone had any success with this approach?  He specifically didn't mention the <code>Robatsch (Modern) defense</code>, but that is initially what this appears to be.</p>

<pre><code>[FEN ""]
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c5
</code></pre>
 12953: <p>As a practioner of the Modern myself, I must say I believe this is a clear over-simplification. The line with 3.. c5 is sometimes not the optimal. For example, when white plays 3. Nf3 then 3.. c5 which invites 4. dxc5 as per the below makes for a game that's not easy to play for black.</p>

<pre><code>[FEN "rnb1k1nr/pp1pppbp/6p1/2q5/4P3/N1P2N2/PP3PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 1 6"]
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 c5 4. dxc5 Qa5+
5. c3 Qxc5 6. Na3
</code></pre>

<p>Here, it's better to stay flexible and play 3.. d6, and then if white plays 4. Nc3, it's possible to play 4.. a6, or of course to transpose to the Pirc with 4. Nf6.</p>
 1856: <p>That's pretty much a slightly worse version of the (Hyper) Accelerated Dragon. 1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 (but instead of playing cxd4 you play Bg7). The Modern Defense/Pirc is most likely just an inferior version of the Sicilian. Black would ideally like to play c5 and cxd4 in most cases anyway, but could be making it more difficult for himself to do so (white has extra options with dxc5 or d5 now when black pushes c5). But in practice Modern/Pirc is still playable because delaying c5 (or omitting it) could avoid some potentially early sharp lines.</p>
 291: <p>There is a whole book about this system, <em>The Sniper: Play 1...g6, ...Bg7 and ...c5!</em> by FM Charlie Storey, published by Everyman. It has gotten <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1857446437" rel="noreferrer">mixed reviews on Amazon</a> and on <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=sniper%20site%3achesspub.com&amp;btnG=Search" rel="noreferrer">the ChessPublishing forums</a>.</p>
