PIRC

do you believe this is a strong opening?? i believe it is

not really

I THINK ITS GREAT OPEING TO PLAY IF YOU ARE PLAYING A PLAYER UNDER 2200 APPROX. AND UNDERSTAND THE PAWN STRUCTURES AND COUNTERPLAY TACTICS NECESSARY TO FIGHT FOR INITIAVE

I TIED FOR FIRST AT FOXWOODS IN 2007 IN THE UNDER 1800 SECTION USING IT AND NEVER GOT A BAD POSITION FROM THE OPENING

acutally u just got space cramped in the opening and had to fight for the win harder

I played the pirc exclusively as black for about 2 years for my HS chess team and OTB in USCF tournaments (this was back in the 1970s!).  It worked very well for me (Class B) - there are lots of trappy opportunities with the bishop on g7 once you start attacking white's center with d5 and c5 - he sometimes forgets that when he pushes a center pawn or captures that the h8-a1 diagonal opens up.

I claim that players with FIDE rating less than 2200 don't understand the strategic patterns well enough in Pirc (1.e4 d6, 2.d4 Nf6, and later g7-g6 and Bg7), as well as in King's Fianchetto (1.e4 g6, 2.d4 Bg7). So it might be an excellent choice with black against players with lower rating.

My experience is that you often end up in sharp situations like

1) the Dragon variation in Sicilian, after c7-c5 and a centre exchange c5:d4, or

2) the Caro-Kann, after Bc8-g4 , B:f3 , c7-c6, and finally d6-d5, with a blockade of the white pawns on black squares, or

3) in a Benoni-type game, after c7-c5, d4-d5.

Pirc opening is very flexible, since black does not show his intentions/trumps too early.

On the other hand, on higher level, or if you don't understand the black plans yourself, then you might often end up in a very passive position with few space, and white can get a mating attack quickly.  

In my opinion, speaking about the objective value of the opening:

Black is not losing, but in many variants he has fewer space than in other openings, such as Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, French. This means, White has more active opportunities than Black in the first 15-25 moves .

(It is still an open question wether or not any of the above mentioned openings is losing, scientifically ...)

i think it is very playable though (if you can learn the main lines) i think it give black some good positions

I think it depends on your opponent.  If he/she knows how to counter it and knows how the Pirc works, then it's going to be a tough battle for Black.  However, Black wouldn't know if White knows the Pirc, so I think it's a gamble to play it.

Overall, I think that if you know how to play it, and you know countermoves to White's possible moves, then you should play the Pirc.  If you're inexperienced with it, (it's not good for beginners) you shouldn't use it.

But let's talk about the role of the white bishop.  I seem to prefer doing a Double Fianchetto variation to the Pirc where I end up with both bishops in the fianchetto and a queenside attack with the Queen (or a Queen trade).

I think one reason the pirc may work well for intermediate level player is because black only gives white a slight advantage in space. For non-expert players converting a small adavantage in space is difficult. In most lines I have seen black's only weakness is a cramped position, black pieces are generally active and blacks pawn stucture remains intact.

For me, at least my only wins against the pirc have come when black tried to attack, but in games when black just plays defense I've only manage to draw.

This is a problem I've had with most hypermodern defenses, not being able to convert a space advantage on the opening into winning position.

opening?