Originally posted by pinkthunderI'm surprised that Seirawan would not be prepared to play a KID. The Pirc and KID are very similar from Black's point of view, so transpositions are always possible, if White wishes.
Kasparov surprised Seirawan in a match, according to wikipedia:
"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 Defense for the first t ...[text shortened]... that has anything to do with him proving its unsound? Yaz was/is a big proponent of the Pirc.
Originally posted by pinkthunderYes, you can also play the move order 1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 to get into the Pirc.
Experienced Pirc players, does it really work against 1.d4, too? The "Starting Out...Pirc" book says it does, yet all the examples--throughout the whole book--start the games with 1.e4.
However, you must be prepared to play the King's Indian Defence as after 1.d4 d6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.e4 Bg7 5.--- 0-0 you are in a main line King's Indian Defence position. Many people will play the KID but not the Pirc, as White has used a tempo to comit a pawn to c4, ruling out the possibility of a very early attack, as in the 150/Caveman Attack of the Pirc (e4, d4, Nc3, Be3, f3, Qd2, 0-0-0 and g4).
Contrary to what some have said, the Pirc is chosen precisely for its very active nature. Black has to use powerful piece placement to counterattack White's centre. Ironically, the most difficult positions to find a plan for Black in are the Quiet Geller System positions (e4, d4, Nf3, Nc3, h3).
The Pirc is very different to the French in that the centre is much more fluid, in fact it is undefined, which is what makes it much harder to play effectively. This contrasts sharply with the french which often has two clashing pawn chains.
My advice is the same as has been said before in this thread, play 1.e4, the Italian Game and lines emphasising piece play as White, play 1.e4 e5 and 1.d4 d5 as Black. Simple openings leave more focus on trying to play the best chess you can, and not the best opening you can.
You will find yourself learning a lot more.
the pirc is a very complicated game your always pinned against the wall and one wrong move and you can be pushed to losing pieces like crazy. i used to play it but when playing people of 1600 they can crush you with a pawn storm. i prefer the sicilian its very complex and sharp on tactics and i've tended to like its free play to the pircs scrunched defense
I used to play the dragon. Karpov refuted it.
I switched over to the pirc, the first few games here at rhp. I won all three. However...., you guessed it, Karpov made it look too easy, crushing Timman(a pirc expert) with simple classical moves.
Now I'm left groping for a new defense. I'm taking up the Najdorf Sicilian. Boy, I'm glad my teacher, the great Karpov, is now too feeble to refute anything.
Haha, the point is that we shouldn't rely on GMs to "refute" openings.
I am a pirc player, though I can't say I'm a highly rated one. I like the pirc because the fianchetto is strong, the king is usually very well protected, and the fluid pawn center makes for a lot of breaks.
While it is true that a pawns torm can be amde on the black king after an early queenside castle, we must not forget that blacks lack of piece development on the queenside makes a counter-storn on the queenside strong as well; furthermore, black has comitted only one piece to the kingside early that is not defended well, the knight.
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Originally posted by pinkthunderWhy play the Pirc? You might as well watch paint dry.
What are the/your general thoughts on the Pirc defense? I'm considering playing it, since Yasser Seirawan recommends it in his 'Winning Chess Openings" book. I'd like to hear from Pirc players, but am just as willing to listen to non-Pirc players thoughts on the defense.
Thanks for your attention.
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You'd be amazed how many Pirc players fall for this...Iv had two players fall for this trap during the last two seasons.
1. e4 d6
2. d4 Nf6
3. Nc3 g6
4. Bg5 Bg7
5. e5 dxe5
6. dxe5 Qxd1+
7. Rxd1 Ng4 (whoops!)
8. h3 Nxe5
9. Nd5
7.. Nfd7
8. e6 have it you naff Pirc git.
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Originally posted by JusuhI once tried to learn the Pirc as I was attracted to an opening that could be played against almost anything, however that also means its super duper wooper passive. People who work in pea soup factories would enjoy the Pirc.
yes, if one is a bad player with no tactical and positional knowledge.
and I feel pity for them, as they miss all the beauty of chess...