PIRC players, give me some advice

I play the Pirc defence but I am not great at it. Any advice about strategies and opening lines?

Here is one variation I see quite a lot. White plays Bg5 then prepares to attack the fiancettoed bishop. Ideas?

Another common line I see>

and this similar position..

So , black to play next.

What do you go with ?

e6?

Ne6?

e5 (under certain circumstances this could work)

The position with the bishop on c4 allows Nxe4 then a pin on the two minor pieces on the next move. Not sure if that is the best option

This is another common position. Seems white will castle long and wants to keep the queen and dark bishop on the board to attack the fiancetto bishop.  What is the best way to counter attack white?

Why?

One more line I see lot is the Austrian Attack. Very aggressive. Any thoughts on how to punish it?

there should be a Nc3 first, on the third move by white i think. 

Well anyway,  i have had a lot of interest in the pirc defense lately and we've been playing it with a friend of mine and analysing with fascination and joy. 

Maybe i cant be no advisor for many things you already must know, being far higher rated than me. But i'd like share thoughts of this and if you dont mind maybe have correspondence game?? just for the sake of training and go on about the variations in the chat 

Actually I stopped playing the pirc because of those lines XD

Usually I just play h6 and delay castling, or if white is obviously preparing to get rid of the black bishop, I'd pawn storm on the queenside and not play Bg7

sure. I will send you a game request.

And... why play Nc3 on move 3 against the Austrian attack??

Because it goes like 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4  To protect the e4 pawn it is.

maybe you just forgot to put the knight move in the diagram. Anyway i accepted your challenge. 

Of course. Very true! This shows just how sloppy a chess player I am

Hello there, @ChrisZifo,

I have found https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzalw8TnI9ynLIfOOcyVrsA to be a great resource. NM Ramirez recently has uploaded a few videos covering the Austrian Attack, the 150 Attack and the Classical Variation. I have personally found them very educational and to have an immediate effect, in the sense that I have newfound ideas on how to approach the opening phase from the Black side of the Pirc. 

 Two good rules of thumb (which, happily enough, I already knew before checking out NM Ramirez' channel!) are:

- Aggresive approaches from White from the Queenside, such as Be3 or Bg5 (150 Attack and Byrne Variation), indicate the moves Qd2, 0-0-0 and a pawnstorm on the kingside. Having that information should tell you to forego the typical plans of Bg7 and 0-0 and switch directly to queenside expansion with c7-c6 and b7-b5.

- In the Classical setup (with Nf3-Nc3), you have two targets with two seperate plans. Either you dislodge the Knight on c3 in a bid to win the e4 pawn or you 'liquidate' the Knight on f3 (as the famous Aron Nimzowitsch would suggest!) with the move Bg4 (if allowed, of course) followed by ...Nc6 and ...e5.

NM Ramirez confirms both in his Pirc videos, so even more worth checking out!

Good advice. And thanks for the link!

In winning with the modern by Grandmaster David Norwood a line with 3...c6 and 4...d5 is recommended to avoid the dangerous Austrian Attack.

I would highly recommend this book for all 1...g6 players. 

thanks Peterchaplin... the Austrian attack is a bit of a nightmare at times.

1. e4 g6 2. d4 d6 3. Nc3 c6 4. f4 d5 5. e5 h5 

It looks as if Black has lost a tempo playing d6 and d5 but actually Black has saved a tempo because the Bishop is still on f8. 

Compared with... 

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c6 4. f4 d5 5. e5 h5 

Now Black must redevelop the Bishop by Bf8 and c5 as it will have no future on g7 with the blocked pawn structure. 

In position #3 I would play c6 like a shot.