SOMETHING AGAINST THE PIRC

By Andrew Martin

I’d like to take a look this week at a little-used attacking system for White against the Pirc Defense. We’ll begin by examining two extremely influential games. Maybe you’ve seen them before. They are certainly worth looking at again. Then we’ll get up to speed with the modern interpretation and see if the whole system stands the test of scrutiny.

Liu Wenzhe (2200) – Jan Hein Donner (2490) [B07]

Buenos Aires ol, 1978

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be2 Bg7 5.g4!?

At first sight rather a brutal move, but there’s no reason why it shouldn’t just be seen as a normal space-gaining operation on the kingside. White plays g2-g4 commonly in systems with an early Be3, so why not here? (It’s interesting to consider 5.Be3, hoping for 5...0–0 6.g4! with an improved variation of our system.).

5...h6?!

Donner had a knack of losing short games. Maybe he thought he just wasn’t going to lose to this Chinaman. But 5...h6 only encourages White to do his thing.

6.h3!

A very, very cunning move, in the light of what follows. I’m sure that Donner now began to think that White had changed his mind and was just looking for a way to develop normally, when Black would be OK. 6 h3 prepares Be3 and Qd2; perhaps that is what Donner anticipated.

6...c5

Gary Lane wrote a short article for CHESS June 2002, where he quotes the following fragments:

1) 6...c6 7.Be3 Qa5 8.Bd3!? Nbd7 9.Nge2 c5 10.0–0 a6 11.f4 cxd4 12.Nxd4 e5 13.Nb3 Qd8 14.f5 was the messy continuation of Zapolskis-Labruckas, Kaunas 2001.

2) 6...e5 7.d5 c6 8.Nf3 cxd5 9.exd5 h5 10.g5 Nh7 11.Be3 Nd7 12.Ne4 Qc7 13.Nfd2 intending Nc4, Paillard-Kozakov Angers 2000, also gives White the advantage.

7.d5 0–0?

Unbelievably careless and indicative of Donner’s misplaced self-confidence. Black had to delay castling in some way. Maybe 7...Na6 was good, preparing ...Nc7, …Rb8, etc.

From now on Lu Wenzhe plays route one chess, which is very easy to understand.

8.h4! ±

Why not? No matter how Black defends now, it’s difficult to believe in his position.

8...e6 9.g5 hxg5 10.hxg5 Ne8?

10...Nh7 was certainly better, intending ...Re8 and ...Nf8, covering all the squares: 11.Nf3 (11.Qd2!? Re8 12.Nf3 exd5) 11...Qa5! (11...Re8 12.Qd3 Na6 13.a3 Nc7) 12.Bd2 Na6 13.a3 Bd7. Personally, I don’t see the mate in these lines.

11.Qd3! 

More or less winning. White intends Qh3 or Qg3-h4-h7.

11...exd5 12.Nxd5 Nc6 13.Qg3 Be6 14.Qh4 f5 15.Qh7+ Kf7 16.Qxg6+!!

The move which made this game famous and propelled 4.Be2 and 5.g4 into the limelight . Let’s not forget that China was only emerging as a chess nation in 1978 – Donner was the heavy favorite to win!

16...Kxg6 17.Bh5+ Kh7 18.Bf7+ Bh6 19.g6+ Kg7

19...Kh8 20.Rxh6+ Kg7 21.Rh7 is mate.

20.Bxh6+, 1-0.

I quote from Jon Speelman’s masterpiece BEST CHESS GAMES 1970-80: “In Round One of the Olympiad, China won a famous victory over Iceland. Amongst the casualties was Grandmaster Sigurjonsson who lost to Qi Jung Chian. Coming upon Sigurjonsson, Jan-Hein Donner attempted to console him with the following unfortunate choice of words: ‘Tell me, how does a Western European Grandmaster lose to a Chinaman ?’ In Round Eight, the Chinese played Holland...”

Of course a game such as the one we have just seen had a tremendous impact on the chess world. An eminent Grandmaster loses very rarely in under 20 moves and hardly at all to a straight mating attack! So everyone wanted to play 4.Be2 and 5.g4. The second game I’ll show you is a masterpiece, and was just as influential in removing our aggressive little system from the forefront of chess fashion.

Vlatko Kovacevic (2510) – Yasser Seirawan (2510) [B07]

Wijk aan Zee,1980

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be2 Bg7 5.g4 c6

Flexible. Black prepares ...b7-b5 and lets his Queen out. It’s possibly the best reply.

6.g5 Nfd7 7.h4 b5 8.h5 Rg8!

White was threatening h5-h6, so 8... Rg8 was essentially forced, although it gets an exclamation point from me all the same. Black cedes the h-file in order to regain that same file later on.

9.hxg6

Perhaps White should not have been tempted, although it is very hard to see Black’s deep plan, even for a strong Grandmaster.

9.a3 was recommended by most commentators, holding up Black’s queenside counterplay, and this does seem to be a much better move. For instance: 9...a6 (9...Nb6 10.Nf3 N8d7 11.Be3 Bb7 12.Qd2 Qc7 13.Nh4 with the idea of f4-f5; 9...Bb7 10.Nf3) 10.Nf3 c5 11.Be3 Nc6 12.d5 Nce5 13.Nd2! with a small edge for White. It is difficult to draw firm conclusions about a board congested with pieces, but White’s extra space must count for something.

9...hxg6 10.Nf3 b4 11.Nb1 a5 12.a4 c5

Quite correctly Black musters counterplay against e4. g2-g4 came at the price of weakening the long diagonal down to h1 and Seirawan is acutely aware of this feature.

13.d5

So Kovacevic blocks the centre to try to cover up his light-square deficiency. 

13...Nb6 14.c4?!

Taking the idea too far. 14.c3 was certainly better, keeping the option of levering the position open. With 14 c4, White renders his whole position inflexible.

14...Kd7!!

A move that made the whole chess world sit up and take notice! In the style of Nimzowitch, Petrosian and Larsen, Seirawan evacuates e8. The point is to regain the h-file he gave away all those moves ago. White’s development is so congested he cannot contest this plan.

15.Nbd2 Rh8! 16.Rg1

Who would have believed this “echo” of  8...Rg8.

16...Kc7 17.Rb1 Rh3 18.b3 Qh8!

Black assumes total control of the position. He has a safe King and wonderfully active pieces.

19.Nf1 N8d7 20.Bf4 Ne5 21.Nxe5

White tries to dampen Black’s enthusiasm by trading, although this merely attracts the Black queen into an even better square than h8. 21.N1d2 is possible, with 21...Nxf3+ 22.Nxf3 Bc3+ 23.Bd2 Rh1 Black is making steady progress towards White’s King.

21...Bxe5 22.Bxe5 Qxe5 23.f3 Bd7 24.Qc2 Qd4 25.Rg2 Rh1 26.Rf2 Qh8!

The respective King positions make the difference. White is unable to construct a defense because his King on e1 hampers the coordination of the rest of his pieces.

27.f4

An attempt to rectify the situation with 27.Kd2 fails miserably to 27...Qh4.

27...Qh4 28.Rd1 f6

Opening up lines at just the right moment.

29.gxf6 exf6 30.e5

Desperate. However, once the e-file has been opened there is little chance for White to survive: 30.Bf3 (Trying to keep it tight) 30...Rg1 31.Qd2 Re8 32.Ke2 Bg4 with a horrible position for White.

30...fxe5 31.fxe5 Rf8 32.exd6+ Kb7 33.Bd3 Re8+, 0-1. He does not wish to see 34.Be2 Rxf1+! 35.Kxf1 Qh1 mate on the board. What a game! And certainly enough to put 4.Be2 and 5.g4 into the dustbin of chess fashion for quite some time.

Yasser Seirawan (2595) – J Ganz [B07]

Zurich Simultaneous, 1988

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be2 Bg7 5.g4 0–0?

Castling into it in a big way. Only very brave players should consider 5...0–0, which plays right into White ‘s hands. The plan of attack is crystal-clear: g4-g5 and then h4-h5. We pick up play in one of Yasser Seirawan’s simultaneous games from the late 1980’s. Interestingly, he’s now on the other side of the board!

6.g5

As an alternative you may like to consider 6.h4!?. White figures he can do without g5: 6...c5 7.d5 e6 8.h5 exd5 9.hxg6 hxg6 (9...fxg6 10.g5! Ne8 11.Nxd5 Be6 12.Bc4 Qd7 13.Qg4! looks terrific for White.) 10.Bg5 Qa5 (10...dxe4! 11.Nxe4 Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Qb6 is a much better way for Black.) 11.Kf1 Re8 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Nxd5 Bg7 14.Qd3 Be6 15.f4 Nc6 16.c3 Ne7 17.Nxe7+ Rxe7 18.f5 gxf5 19.gxf5 Bc8 20.Qg3 Kf8 21.Qf4 Be5 22.f6 Ke8 23.Rh8+ Kd7 24.fxe7. The right result in the right manner, but when all is said and done I prefer the straightforward 6 g5.

6...Nfd7 7.h4 Re8 8.h5 Nf8

Black often musters his pieces in this manner to guard against an early h4-h5 attack by White. The minor pieces cover all the squares. However, the Bishop and Knight are tied to exclusively defensive duties and it is hard to view the Black position as anything other than passive. In the manner of a very strong player, Seirawan patiently builds the pressure.

9.Be3 c6 10.Qd2 b5 11.a4!

Forcing Black to clarify the pawn structure.

11...b4 12.Nd1 a5 13.f4!

A MASSIVE SPACE ADVANTAGE

The second wave of attack. 

13...e6?

Absurdly passive. If Black is to make a fight of it he must try 13...e5, but even then 14.Nf2! retains White’s advantage.

14.Nf2 f5

14...Nbd7 15.0–0–0 Ba6 16.Bxa6 Rxa6 17.Nf3 b3 18.c4 leaves White with a massive space advantage. Attempts to disrupt the position are easily rebuffed: 18...Nb6 19.Qd3 Nxa4 20.c5 Ra8 21.Qxb3.

15.gxf6 Qxf6 16.Nf3 Ra7 17.Ng4 Qe7 18.hxg6 hxg6

If 18...Nxg6 19.Ng5! Nf8 20.e5! gives a massive attack.

19.Nh6+ Bxh6 20.Rxh6 Qg7 21.Rh2 Nh7 22.0–0–0 Nd7 23.d5 c5 24.dxe6+- Nb6 25.Qxd6 Nxa4 26.Ne5 Rb7 27.Bc4 Rb6 28.Qd8 Rxd8 29.Rxd8+ Nf8 30.e7+ Be6 31.Rxf8+, 1-0. 31…Qxf8 would have been splattered by 32.Rh8+!.

My simple conclusion is that 5...0–0 is a mistake and gives White an automatic attacking position. In the evasive, elastic manner of the Pirc, Black must keep all options open for as long as possible.

Pavel Simacek  (2439) – Sandor Videki  (2409) [B07]

Paks Cup, 2004

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be2 Bg7 5.g4 c5

This is the recommended procedure against 4.Be2 and 5.h4, so let us see whether 5...c5 works out as well here. White should certainly block the center immediately. A more fluid, Sicilian-type of game would certainly increase the likelihood that Black could expose g2-g4 as something of a luxury.

6.g5

6.d5 is clearly the only other possibility worth mentioning. There are few decent examples:

1) 6...a6 7.g5 Nfd7 8.a4 Qb6 9.h4 (White seems unperturbed by taking on so many pawn commitments.) 9...Qb4 10.Bd2 Ne5 11.f3 c4 12.Qc1 Qc5 13.a5 b5 14.axb6 Qxb6 15.Na4 Qc7 16.Be3 Ned7 17.h5, G Portisch - G Horvath, Hungary 1999. Black’s position is congested.;

2) 6...Na6!? 7.g5 Nd7 8.h4 Qa5 9.Bd2 leaves White with an edge.

3) 6...h5!? 7.g5 Ng8 (7...Nfd7 8.f4 a6 9.Nf3 b5 10.a3! intends 0–0,Nh4 and f4-f5! after which I think White is better.) 8.Be3 e5 9.dxe6 Bxe6 10.Qd2 Nc6 11.Nb5, ±, R Todor - T Steinermayr, Aschach 1997.

6...Nfd7 7.d5 0–0

7...Qa5 is possibly more appropriate, as Black seeks counterplay before presenting White with an obvious target: 8.Bd2 h6 9.gxh6 Bxh6 10.f4 Nf6 (10...Bg7 11.Nf3 Na6 12.h4 Qb6 is completely unclear.) 11.h4 Bg7 12.e5 dxe5 13.fxe5 Nh5 14.e6 Qc7 15.Bb5+! Kf8 16.Nge2 (16.Qf3 Qg3+ 17.Qxg3 Nxg3 18.Rh3 Nf5 19.0–0–0, unclear) 16...fxe6 17.Bg5 c4 18.Rf1+ Kg8 19.Qd2, ±, Katalymov-Movsziszian, Bad Woerishoven 1996. White has an obvious attack. In practice, he will win this position time after time after time.

8.h4 Re8 9.h5 a6

9...e6 tries to make sense of the Rook on e8 but I think White can just play on route one again: 10.Qd3! Ne5 (10...Nb6 11.hxg6 hxg6 12.Bf4 exd5 13.0–0–0!? d4 14.Nb5 Be5 15.Qg3, ±; 10...exd5 11.Nxd5 Nc6 12.hxg6 hxg6 13.c3, +=) 11.Qg3, ±.

10.hxg6 hxg6 11.a4 b5?!

Rather than get slaughtered in the same way that Donner did, Videki tries to break loose. However, 11...b5 proves inadequate. Nevertheless, other moves don’t seem too promising either: 11...Qa5 12.Bd2 Qb6 13.Ra3! e6 14.Rb3 Qc7 15.Nf3 Ne5 16.Nxe5 Bxe5 17.Bc4 Nd7 18.f4 Bg7 19.dxe6 fxe6 20.Be3! Nb6 21.Bd3!, ±.

12.axb5 Nb6

13.Nh3

13.Bf4! just seems very good for White indeed, with the plan Qd3-g3-h4 in mind. If 13...c4 14.bxa6 Rxa6 15.Rxa6 Nxa6 16.Be3 e6 17.dxe6 Bxe6 18.Bd4, ±.

13...e6 14.Nf4 exd5 15.Ncxd5 N8d7

15...Rxe4 16.Nxb6 Qxb6 17.Nd5 Qb7 was a much better defense.

16.Qd3 Bb7 17.bxa6 Nxd5 18.Nxd5 c4 19.Qh3 Rxa6 20.Rxa6 Bxa6 21.Bd2 Bb7 22.Bc3 Ne5 23.f4 Bxd5 24.exd5, 1-0.

An uneven example. I think we can formulate some definite ideas now:

1) 4.Be2 and 5.g4 leads to a very wild position in most lines, posing novel problems for BOTH players. 

2) Black should not castle short early, if at all!

3) White pushes his kingside pawns forward to CRAMP Black, not necessarily to mate him.

We have only scratched the surface of our little system and I daresay a lot remains to be discovered, but I think that 4.Be2 and 5.g4 is easy to play and puts the pressure on Black from the off. Not an unwelcome bonus is that there is very little theory in the textbooks about this idea at all. Why not investigate further?