I need some advice about playing this line of the Pirc Defence as Black by players with positional understanding of the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.Be3 is quite a strong move. With his powerful centre, now White is aiming to Black's kingside, perhaps with a later Ng5. So, castling inmediately is not recommended here for Black.

 

 

 

 

The first time I had to face this as Black, I had little understanding of the Pirc Defence, so I didn't perform vey well:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to make some research on this line, and found a book where they recommended playing ... c6 after 5. Be3. A possible line would be this one:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But searching in my chess games database, I found out that many GM's played 5... a6!? instead of c6, with the idea of playing b5 in the next move. Let's take a look at it:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other top players such as Gurevich and Chernin, who are Pirc defence players, have also tried this line. So my question is, why should I play, 5... c6 or 5... a6? And, what are the strategic ideas behind the two lines?

The Pirc is a really hard defense to play.  Keep working at it!

Both 5...c6 and 5...a6 are playable. GM's  David Norwood, and more recently Tiger-Hillarp Persson like to play an early ...a6. The idea is to snipe at the centre from a distance by playing ...b5, ...Bb7,...Nbd7 and ...c5. Quite tricky play ensues and white must time his break in the centre correctly if he wants to achieve an advantage.

Variations with ...c6 allow for the early development of the black queen (to c7 or a5) and also expansion on the q-side with ...b5, but keeps more of a hold on the central squares. Black will often play ...e5 in this variation, usually after the queen is developed, and these lines tend to be a bit more 'positional' than the early...a6 lines. Check out the games of Scottish GM Colin McNab for the black side.

From the white side, there is no need to develop the knight to f3 so early -  it merely limits the aggressive options at white's disposal (Austrian Attack ideas with f4, or Be3/Qd2 aiming for Bh6, for example.

Hope this helps a little

streetfighter

Norwood, McNab and Tiger have all written books on the Pirc/Modern

We played Tiger Hillarp's a6 in response to the Austrian in the Premium Showdown chess match - go and check it out.

http://www.chess.com/votechess/game.html?id=7936390

The pirc is a very interesting defense. I have played it some, but I don't think it suites my style. Many people find it perfect for them though, and I have played a few of them.

Very nice post Freecat. Also, thanks for some good info Streetfighter.