Pirc Defence
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- This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
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| Moves | 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ECO | B07-B09 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | Vasja Pirc | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | King's Pawn Game | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonym(s) | Ufimtsev Defence; Yugoslav Defence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chessgames.com opening explorer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pirc Defence, sometimes known as the Ufimtsev Defence or Yugoslav Defence, is a chess opening characterised by Black responding to 1. e4 with 1. ...d6 and 2. ...Nf6, followed by ...g6 and ...Bg7, while allowing White to establish an impressive-looking centre with pawns on d4 and e4. It is named after the Slovenian Grandmaster Vasja Pirc (pronounced "peerts").
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[edit] General remarks
The Pirc Defence is a relatively new opening. In the 1930s it was considered inferior, but by the 1960s it was found to be quite playable. This opening is tricky to play and correct play is sometimes counterintuitive. Black, in hypermodern fashion, does not immediately stake out the centre with pawns, but rather works to undermine White's pawn centre with pieces.
Move order is not so critical in the Pirc as in other openings, but the most common sequence is 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6, with Black fianchettoing his bishop on g7 next move. A distinction is usually drawn between the Pirc and lines where Black delays the development of his knight to f6 — this is known as the Modern or Robatsch Defence.
The oldest games on record at Chessgames.com database is between Josef Noa and Amos Burn in Frankfurt 1887.
[edit] Early deviations
After 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3, 3...g6 is the main line Pirc. Black has an alternate system known as the Pribyl System or Czech Defence, which begins with 3...c6. This often transposes to the Pirc if Black later plays ...g6. Alternatively, Black can play ...Qa5 and ...e5 to challenge White's centre, or expand on the queenside with ...b5.
An unusual but quite reasonable deviation for White is 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.f3. Former world champion Garry Kasparov once surprised American Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan with this move. After 3...g6 4.c4, an unhappy Seirawan found himself defending the King's Indian Defence for the first time in his life.[citation needed] Black can avoid a King's Indian with 3...e5, which may lead to an Old Indian type position after 4.d5, or with 3...d5. This can transpose to the Classical Variation of the French Defence after 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 e6 6.Nf3, to the Tarrasch Variation of the French Defence after 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 e6 6.c3 c5 7.Nd2 Nc6 8.Ndf3, or even to the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit with an extra tempo for White after 4.Nc3 dxe4 5.Bg5 exf3 6.Nxf3.
A common deviation by Black is 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5. This has been tried by many GMs over the years, and more recently including Azmaiparashvili, Felgaer, Gagunashvili, Eljanov, Ivanisevic, Damljanovic and Bauer. 4.dxe5 is known to be equal, and play normally continues 4...dxe5 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Bc4 Be6 7.Bxe6 fxe6. Instead, White normally transposes to the Philidor Defence with 4.Nf3.
[edit] Austrian Attack
The Austrian Attack begins 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4. In placing pawns on d4, e4 and f4, White may establish a large centre, with plans to push in the centre and possibly attack on the kingside (this is the Austrian Attack); Black often counters with ...c5 to break the pawn centre up. Jan Timman has played both sides of this variation with success. Yuri Balashov does well with the white pieces and Valery Beim has an impressive score on the black side.
[edit] Classical (Two Knights) System
The Classical (Two Knights) System begins 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3. White creates a strong pawn centre and Black castles quickly and builds a compact structure, easy to defend. White must organize an attack without trading too many pieces. Efim Geller, Anatoly Karpov and Evgeni Vasiukov have chosen this system with White. Zurab Azmaiparashvili has an impressive score on the Black side.
[edit] 150-Attack and Argentine Attack
The setup Be3 and Qd2 is very common against the King's Indian Defence and the Sicilian Dragon, so why not against the Pirc? Indeed this system is as old as the Pirc itself. And the Be3 System is the variation that has logged the highest winning percentage for White with 48%, based on Chessgames.com database.
The system 4.f3 was introduced by Argentines around 1930 and again in 1950. It was never considered dangerous for Black because of 4.f3 Bg7 5.Be3 c6 6.Qd2 b5. It received a severe blow around 1985, when Gennady Zaitchik showed that Black could castle anyway and play a dangerous gambit with 5...0-0 6.Qd2 e5.
The Argentines feared the sally ...Ng4. Especially some British players (Hebden, Motwani, Lane, later also Adams) realised, that this was mainly dangerous for Black. So they began to play Be3 and Qd2 in all sort of move orders, but omitted f2-f3. They called this the 150-Attack, because only players of this strength (about ELO 1800) could be naive enough to expect mate in 25 moves.
The original Argentine idea probably is only viable after 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2 0-0 6.0-0-0 c6 (or Nc6) 7.f3 b5 8.h4. Black usually does not castle though and prefers 5...c6 or even 4...c6. The question if and when to insert Nf3 remains open.
[edit] Other systems
Other approaches for White are to play Bc4, Bg5 or to fianchetto the king's bishop with 4.g3 and 5.Bg2.
[edit] Sample Games
In the following game, Azmaiparashvili uses the Pirc to defeat then-reigning world champion Anatoly Karpov:
Karpov-Azmaiparashvili, USSR Championship, Moscow 1983 1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.O-O Bg4 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 e5 9.d5 Ne7 10.Rad1 b5 11.a3 a5 12.b4 axb4 13.axb4 Ra3 14.Bg5 Rxc3 15.Bxf6 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Ra3 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Ra1 Qa8 19.Rxa3 Qxa3 20.Be2 Qb2 21.Rd1 f5 22.exf5 Nxf5 23.c3 Qxd2 24.Rxd2 Ra8 25.Bxb5 Ra3 26.Rc2 Ne7 27.f4 exf4 28.Bc6 Nf5 29.Kf2 Ne3 30.Rc1 Kf6 31.g3 Ke5 32.Kf3 g5 33.gxf4+ gxf4 34.h4 Nxd5 35.Bxd5 Kxd5 36.Kxf4 Kc4 37.Re1 Rxc3 38.Re7 Kxb4 39.Rxh7 d5 40.Ke5 c6 41.Kd4 Rc4+ 0-1
Kasparov's Immortal; Rook and Knight Sacrifice. Kasparov vs Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 c6 6. f3 b5 7. Nge2 Nbd7 8. Bh6 Bxh6 9. Qxh6 Bb7 10. a3 e5 11. O-O-O Qe7 12. Kb1 a6 13. Nc1 O-O-O 14. Nb3 exd4 15. Rxd4 c5 16. Rd1 Nb6 17. g3 Kb8 18. Na5 Ba8 19. Bh3 d5 20. Qf4+ Ka7 21. Rhe1 d4 22. Nd5 Nbxd5 23. exd5 Qd6 24. Rxd4 cxd4 25. Re7+ Kb6 26. Qxd4+ Kxa5 27. b4+ Ka4 28. Qc3 Qxd5 29. Ra7 Bb7 30. Rxb7 Qc4 31. Qxf6 Kxa3 32. Qxa6+ Kxb4 33. c3+ Kxc3 34. Qa1+ Kd2 35. Qb2+ Kd1 36. Bf1 Rd2 37. Rd7 Rxd7 38. Bxc4 bxc4 39. Qxh8 Rd3 40. Qa8 c3 41. Qa4+ Ke1 42. f4 f5 43. Kc1 Rd2 44. Qa7 1-0
Tal The Magician; Rook Sacrifice. Mikhail Tal vs Tigran Petrosian, Moscow 1974 1. Nf3 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. d4 d6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O Nc6 7. d5 Nb8 8. Re1 e5 9. dxe6 Bxe6 10. Bf4 h6 11. Nd4 Bd7 12. Qd2 Kh7 13. e5 dxe5 14. Bxe5 Ne4 15. Nxe4 Bxe5 16. Nf3 Bg7 17. Rad1 Qc8 18. Bc4 Be8 19. Neg5+ hxg5 20. Nxg5+ Kg8 21. Qf4 Nd7 22. Rxd7 Bxd7 23. Bxf7+ 1-0
Candidates Jewel; Bishop Sacrifice. Robert James Fischer vs Viktor Korchnoi, Curacao 1962 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 c5 7. dxc5 Qa5 8. O-O Qxc5+ 9. Kh1 Nc6 10. Nd2 a5 11. Nb3 Qb6 12. a4 Nb4 13. g4 Bxg4 14. Bxg4 Nxg4 15. Qxg4 Nxc2 16. Nb5 Nxa1 17. Nxa1 Qc6 18. f5 Qc4 19. Qf3 Qxa4 20. Nc7 Qxa1 21. Nd5 Rae8 22. Bg5 Qxb2 23. Bxe7 Be5 24. Rf2 Qc1+ 25. Rf1 Qh6 26. h3 gxf5 27. Bxf8 Rxf8 28. Ne7+ Kh8 29. Nxf5 Qe6 30. Rg1 a4 31. Rg4 Qb3 32. Qf1 a3 33. Rg3 Qxg3 0-1
"Cheap's" Sacrifice. Hikaru Nakamura vs Ilya Smirin, Foxwoods Open 2005 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. f4 Nf6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. e5 Nfd7 7. h4 c5 8. h5 cxd4 9. hxg6 dxc3 10. gxf7+ Rxf7 11. Bc4 Nf8 12. Ng5 e6 13. Nxf7 cxb2 14. Bxb2 Qa5+ 15. Kf1 Kxf7 16. Qh5+ Kg8 17. Bd3 Qb4 18. Rb1 Bd7 19. c4 Qd2 20. Bxh7+ Nxh7 21. Qxh7+ Kf8 22. Rh4 1-0
[edit] ECO codes
Some of the systems employed by White against the Pirc Defence include the following:
- 4. Bc4 : ECO code B07, Kholmov System (4.Bc4 Bg7 5.Qe2 O-O 6.e5 dxe5 7.dxe5 Nfd7 8.e6 Ne5; also the very entertaining line 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. Qe2 Nc6 6. e5! where White sacrifices queen and two pawns for three pieces, but achieves a huge lead in development.)
- 4. Be2 : ECO code B07 (sub-variants after 4..Be2 Bg7 include the Chinese Variation, 5.g4 and the Bayonet (Mariotti) Attack, 5.h4.)
- 4. Be3 : ECO code B07, 150 or "Caveman" Attack (4.Be3 c6 5.Qd2)
- 4. Bg5 : ECO code B07 Byrne Variation
- 4. g3 : ECO code B07, Sveshnikov System
- 4. Nf3 : ECO code B08, Classical (Two knights) System (sub-variants after 4. ...Bg7 include 5.h3 and 5.Be2)
- 4. f4 : ECO code B09, Austrian Attack (sub-variants after 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 include 6.e5, 6.Bd3 and 6.Be3; also, after 4. ...Bg7 is 5.Bc4, the Ljubojevic Variation. Black also has the option to move into the Dragon Formation after 5.Nf3 with 5. ...c5.)
[edit] Notes
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
[edit] Further reading
- John Nunn and Colin McNab, The Ultimate Pirc (Batsford, 1998)
- Alexander Chernin and Lev Alburt, Pirc Alert! (London, 2001)
