The Pirc Defence

The Pirc Defence is a highly flexible and double-edged opening with which Black can avoid premature simplification and go for the full point. By first developing his kingside he waits to see how White will deploy his own forces before striking back in the most effective way. The top exponents of the Pirc include Mikhail Gurevich, Alexander Chernin, Jan Timman, Yasser Seirawan, Jonathan Speelman, Zurab Azmaiparashvili and Alexander Beliavsky; in the past it was a great favourite of Mikhail Botvinnik and Tony Miles. Here Nigel Davies explains the ideas and backs this up by showing exactly how Black should react to White‘s different formations. Video running time: 7 hours.