Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

← chesspieler / Openings

Playing Black · 30 blitz games · 16W 13L 1D · You choose this

Pirc Defense

Bad starts, strong finishes: your Pirc scores well despite the openings.

Score55%+6% vs your average
Win chance after move 1244%−8% vs your average
Blunders per game1.07−0.16 vs your average
Clock left at move 102:32−7s vs your average
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Your most common line

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6

What it says about you

1...d6 and ...Nf6 against 1.e4 means you are happy to give White the centre and counter-attack later. It is a fighting choice that suits players who are comfortable being worse for a while. You have played none of these games recently, so it seems to have dropped out of your repertoire.

How you play it

You come out of the opening badly, with a win chance of 43.7 at move 12, the worst in your repertoire. By move 20 you recover to 49.8, and you score 55.0% over 30 games. Early errors are high at 0.67 per game, but your games are short (31.5 moves) and your conversion is good at 15 of 22 winning positions (68%). The Modern/Geller setup scores 83.3% over 6 games, the main line 45.5% and the Classical 40.0%.

What you're missing

  1. 01

    Early structural mistakes: at move 6 you played ...f6 instead of ...Nd7 and went from 31 to 9. Weakening your kingside so early is a major error in the Pirc.

  2. 02

    At move 9 you played ...e5 instead of ...Rxf4 and walked into a fork, dropping from 90 to 45. You had a winning position and gave it away.

  3. 03

    Time trouble at the end: 18...Qxa2 (94 to 71) and then 19...Bxe5 instead of 19...Qxb2+ (78 to 10) with 12-17s left.

  4. 04

    Your move-12 win chance of 43.7 is by far your worst. The opening itself is causing problems you have to fix later.

How to improve it

  1. 01

    Against 3.Nc3, play ...g6, ...Bg7, ...O-O, then ...c6 and ...b5 against White's kingside attack. This is simpler than the main line theory.

  2. 02

    Against the 150 Attack (Be3, Qd2), consider ...c6 and ...b5 for queenside counterplay, or ...Nc6 with ...e5. Do not castle into an attack if Bh6 is coming.

  3. 03

    Only play ...e5 when your pieces are ready to support it. At move 9 you pushed it too early and walked into a fork.

  4. 04

    Do not weaken your kingside pawns with moves like ...f6. Your king will be on g8 and those pawns protect it.

Where it goes wrong

Your losses in this opening, by where and how the decisive mistake happened.

Phase of the decisive mistake

opening2n=2
middlegame8n=8
endgame1n=1

What the mistake was

Missed a tactic / only move3n=3
Didn't see opponent's 2–3 move combination2n=2
Allowed a mating attack2n=2
Big positional error (no simple tactic)2n=2
Lost on time in a playable position2n=2

Variations you reach

Main line1145%
Modern Defense Geller System683%
Classical Variation540%

Winning positions converted here: 68% (15 of 22).

Recent mistakes in this opening

Your move in red, Stockfish's in black.

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Positional error · 2:50 left
6… f6? Best was Nd7. 31% → 9%
vs sudarshanhunusnale (1477) · 02-03-26 →
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Walked into a fork · 2:45 left
9… e5? Best was Rxf4. 90% → 45%
vs NotorCompe (1458) · 03-02-26 →
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Positional error · 0:17 left
18… Qxa2? Best was b6. 94% → 71%
vs NotorCompe (1458) · 03-02-26 →
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Hung a piece · 0:12 left
19… Bxe5? Best was Qxb2+. 78% → 10%
vs NotorCompe (1458) · 03-02-26 →

Next steps

01

Learn a simple Pirc setup

Pick ...g6, ...Bg7, ...O-O, ...c6 and play it the same way every game. Your move-12 win chance of 43.7 needs to improve.

02

Try the Geller system more

You scored 83.3% over 6 games in the Geller line. Find out why and aim for it.

03

Look at forks before pushing

Before any central pawn push, check whether it walks into a fork. 9...e5 turned a winning game into a draw.