Pirc and Modern Defence: free opening course
Black lets White build a big pawn centre and then attacks it from the side. The bishop goes to g7, Black castles quickly and strikes back with ...c5, ...e5 or a queenside expansion with ...c6 and ...b5. Flexible and fighting, but Black must know how to meet White's attacking setups.
Key ideas
- Fianchetto the dark-squared bishop on g7, where it presses on d4 and the long diagonal, and castle early.
- Counter-attack White's centre with ...c5 or ...e5 at the right moment; don't let White's pawns roll forward unchallenged.
- Against the Austrian Attack (f4), be ready for e5 pushes: keep the knight's escape squares and use ...c5 / ...Qa5 to hit the centre and pin the c3 knight.
- Against the 150 Attack (Be3, Qd2, Bh6), expand on the queenside with ...c6 and ...b5 and keep the centre flexible with ...e5.
- Learn the ...Nxe4 tricks: they only work when the c3 knight is pinned (for example by ...Qa5 before White castles) — once White has castled the trick usually fails.
The 5 variations in the course
- Austrian Attack: 5...O-O 6.Bd3 Na6: 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Bd3 Na6 … — White builds a big pawn centre with f4. Black castles, develops the knight to a6 to support ...c5, and after d5 plays on the queenside with ...Nc7, ...a6, ...Rb8 and ...b5.
- Austrian Attack: 5...c5: 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 c5 6. dxc5 Qa5 … — Black strikes at d4 at once. After 6.dxc5 Qa5 the queen pins the c3 knight and regains the pawn on c5. Black develops with ...O-O and ...Bg4 and fights for the dark squares.
- 150 Attack: Be3, Qd2: 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 c6 6. f3 b5 … — White plays Be3, Qd2, f3 and Bh6 to trade off the g7 bishop and attack. Black delays castling, expands on the queenside with ...c6 and ...b5, and strikes with ...e5.
- Classical System 4.Nf3: 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O Bg4 … — White develops quietly with Nf3, Be2 and O-O. Black castles, pins the f3 knight with ...Bg4, develops ...Nc6 and strikes with ...e5. After d5 the knight goes to e7 and Black prepares ...c6 or ...f5.
- Modern Defence 1...g6: 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. Be3 a6 5. Qd2 b5 6. Bd3 Nd7 … — Black fianchettoes first and delays ...Nf6, so that White's e4 cannot be hit early but Black keeps the option of ...c6, ...a6 and ...b5. Against Be3 and Qd2, Black expands on the queenside and hits the centre with ...c5.
Traps you will learn (2)
- Austrian: the ...Nf2+ fork — If White pushes e5 too early in the Austrian, queens come off and Black's knight jumps to g4, eyeing e5 and f2. The natural 'kick' h3?? lets ...Nf2+ fork the king and the h1 rook.
- Warning: ...Nd5?? against Bc4 and Qe2 — A warning for Black. Against the Bc4/Qe2 setup White plays e5, and after the exchange on e5 the f6 knight must move. The centralising 7...Nd5?? looks safe because the queen covers d5, but 8.Bxd5 wins a piece: if 8...Qxd5, the c3 knight takes the queen.
How the opening courses work
Each course teaches an opening in a few main variations. For every move you read why it is played, which other moves are good, and which tempting moves are mistakes and why. Each course also shows the traps of the opening: the ones you can set and the ones to avoid.
After a lesson you play the moves yourself in a drill. The lines you learn go into your review, which brings them back when you are about to forget them (spaced repetition). 30 line courses add many short lines per opening, a few new ones a day, and every named opening, more than 3,800 lines, has a lesson of its own.
Questions and answers
Is the Pirc and Modern Defence course free?
Yes. The Pirc and Modern Defence course on chessGM is free, with all 5 variations, 2 traps, the drills and the review. There is no paid plan that unlocks more.
Who is the Pirc and Modern Defence course for?
It is a course at intermediate level for Black, written for players rated around 1500.
How do I practise this opening?
After each lesson, play the moves yourself in the drill. The lines you learn go into your review, which brings them back when you are about to forget them, and you can try the opening in games against the bots.