Openings · B07–B09

Pirc Defence

Let White build the centre, then take it apart from the flank: a fianchetto, a hypermodern plan, and a lot of patience.

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6played as Black

Play it through on the board below.

Practise the line

You play Black; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

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h8
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a
Your move 1 of 20/2
  1. 1.e4d6
  2. 2.d4Nf6

White is answering…

The idea

Black gives White the pawns on d4 and e4 on purpose, and attacks them from a distance with a bishop on g7, a knight on f6 and the breaks …c5 and …e5. The whole defence rests on those breaks coming at the right moment; there is no other source of counterplay.

It is the sharpest of the modern defences to meet, because White's most testing tries — the Austrian Attack with f4, and the 150 Attack with Be3, Qd2 and Bh6 — are both direct attempts to mate before the breaks arrive.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

The knight on c6, in front of the c-pawn

After 7.e5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
The mistake
Developing …Nc6 in the Austrian Attack.
Why it costs
7.e5 comes with tempo, and the knight on c6 blocks the …c5 break that is Black's only counterplay. Black ends up with a bad version of both plans: no pawn breaks and a knight that has to move again.
Instead
…c5 straight away, or …Na6 and …c5 next. In the Pirc the c-pawn goes first and the queen's knight goes to a6 or d7.

Letting the g7 bishop be traded

After 6.Bh6
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
The mistake
Castling into Bh6 without …c6, …b5 or …Re8 ready to answer it.
Why it costs
The bishop on g7 is the defence. Once it is traded, h6 and g7 belong to White and Qd2, h4 and h5 is not a plan Black can meet by defending — it has to be met by counterplay that is already under way.
Instead
…c6 and …b5 before castling, or meet Be3 with …Ng4 to trade the attacker. Sometimes the answer is …Bxh6 followed by …Kh8 and a rook to g8, but only with a break in hand.

Playing ...e5 for its own sake

After 8…Rxd8
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
The mistake
Breaking with …e5 and trading queens as though the game were level.
Why it costs
The endgame is pleasant only for White: Black's e5 pawn is fixed on a dark square, the bishop on g7 bites on it, and Nd5 and Bg5 come with tempo. Black has traded his counterplay for a slightly worse ending.
Instead
…c6 and …b5, or prepare …e5 with …Nbd7 and …c6 so that the recapture on e5 is with a piece. Timing is the whole opening.

In real games between beginners

  • 1 in 120games end with Black giving checkmate by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 54.
  • 1 in 44games end with Black getting checkmated by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 33.

From 10,642 Lichess games in this opening between players rated under 1200, blitz and slower, September 2026. How we counted.

What the engine says

After 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6, these are White's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing White's chance of winning. The whole list sits within 3 percentage points of win chance: none of them is a mistake, and the choice is about the positions you want to play.

  1. Nc3+0.4
  2. Nd2+0.4
  3. Bd3+0.3
  4. f3+0.3
  5. Qe2+0.2
  6. Bb5++0.2

The engine's main line from Nc3: Nc3 e5 Nf3 Nbd7 a4 Be7 Bc4 O-O.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

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