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Starting Out: The Pirc/Modern Reviewed by J. Varsoke
The Pirc is an all-purpose counter-punching defense to 1.e4. Like the King's Indian, it is among the family of openings that pretty much ignore what White is doing for the first few moves while digging into a solid defensive position. GM Yasser Seirawan recommends this defense for beginners as a way to reduce opening preparation. It has a reputation for rewarding the understanding of ideas rather than rote memorization. I've been struggling with it for three years. Books written by Joe Gallagher top my chess book wish list (my copy of Starting Out: The King's Indian has more dog-ears than an Iditarod) so when I heard GM Gallagher contributed a book on the Pirc/Modern to the mostly excellent Starting Out series by Everyman Chess, I leapt at the chance to review it. PRESENTATION This book carries on the traditional Starting Out series format ( e.g. Starting Out: The King's Indian, Starting Out: The Nimzo-Indian, and Starting Out: The Sicilian). The binding is durable and allows for the paperback to lie open on your desk without much trouble. Plenty of diagrams of the critical positions litter the book, though not enough to read the book without a board handy. Unfortunately, most positions do not readily indicate which side is to move. For that you'll need to find out where the position is referenced in the text. The print is large enough for easy reading. The use of a bold font for main-line moves allows for easy differentiation from variations at a glance. FORMAT For each opening line there is first an introduction discussing the themes and character of the line. This is followed by an examination of the current theoretical main-line with some discussion on deviations from best play. The consideration and presentation of main-line deviations is less than comprehensive, but acceptable for a book called "Starting Out". After the main-line text there is a short synopsis of how theoretical the line is. This lets the Black know how sharp the line is and how much effort that is required to make this line viable. A typical comment might be "Work [on memorizing the line] is required but a small slip will probably not be fatal." Gallagher then quotes statistics on the success of the opening line for White and Black as found in ChessBase's MegaDataBase 2003. This allows for the reader to quickly assess how hard it is for Black to challenge White's first move advantage with a line. These statistics are based on high level (IM, GM) play and won't accurately reflect the over the board experience of the book's target audience. Instead it gives a rough idea of how successful theory has been in competitive play. The statistics section is followed by two to four example games. While exploration of variations from the text moves are on the light side, the text moves are well annotated. Gallagher explains the character of the positions, advantages of each side, and the necessity of key moves. Interspersed in the the text are large bold notes and warnings distilling the essence of a position into a generalization easy for the reader to keep in mind. One of my favorites was "In chess it is often said that one needs two weaknesses to lose a game. . . In this position Black already has two weaknesses -- his d-pawn and his kingside -- so he is probably losing." This sort of wry wit is peppered throughout the book, making its pithy points a pleasure to read. Gallagher then offers a brief summary of the character and practical value of the line. It mentions the danger or ease of the line, how aggressive, sharp, or positional it is, and whether the ensuing endgame contains an advantage for either side. Its more helpful to read this first rather than last if you're perusing lines looking for something viable to play. At the very end of the book is an "Index of Variations," which is a move tree with references to where you can find a game with that move in the book. CONTENTS Gallagher covers the following lines:
As you can see from the above most of the book addresses the Pirc rather than the Modern, which while similar, are not similar enough for the casual player to switch between during a tournament. Most books on the Pirc or Modern address just one or the other. Gallagher offers about 30 pages on the Modern only as a way to flesh out his treatment of the Pirc. A few Pirc lines closely follow ideas that are bread-n-butter for the Modern, so a quick examination of the Modern helps highlight the principles of this sort of play. But if you're interested in playing the Modern instead of the Pirc this is not the book for you. THEORY I'm not fool enough to challenge Gallagher's interpretation of Pirc theory. His bibliography includes Pirc Alert! by Lev Alburt & Alex Chernin, which I own, and I'm sure he's interpreted the theory in that book better than I could. Surprisingly though, the bibliography cites John Nunn's 1989 text The Complete Pirc rather than Nunn and Colin McNab's 1998 text The Ultimate Pirc. Perhaps Gallagher found the latter as dense and impenetrable as I did. It's terribly comprehensive, but the ratio of chess notation to English words is about 5 to 1, if not more. Still, I'd bet Gallagher's knowledge of theory is more than sufficient for a text entitled "Starting Out". PRAXIS One of the problems with this book is really a problem with the Pirc and the target audience for a book called "Starting Out". Which path White leads you down seems highly dependent on your opponent's playing level. Those openings where White gets a slight edge, or where the theory is sharp, are critical at high levels (IM, GM), but aren't even threatening when bungled by low level players. In the highest levels of play the Austrian Attack (1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4) is very popular. As Nunn says, "The Austrian Attack remains one of the most crucial lines in the Pirc, especially as the sharp play does not allow second-best moves by Black". White is looking for an early e5 push (a common theme in the Pirc) and Black must walk a fine line to get equality. But that's theory. When I first started playing chess 3 years ago, and my opponents were mostly in the 1400-1600 range at FICS, no theory was necessary. The solid Pirc setup with the fianchettoed bishop, knight on f6, and king in his house, was enough to fend off White long enough to get to a comfortable middlegame. In the last 200 standard time-control games on FICS where I defended against 1.e4 verses opponents rated between 1600 and 1800, I saw the Austrian Attack exactly 6 times. As I see it so rarely I have nothing prepared for it. Instead I play following the general themes of the Pirc, issuing sensible moves. In none of those games had I even broken a sweat in the opening. Equality was reached early as none of these players really knew how to punish me for my theoretical mistakes. So, while Gallagher spends 50 pages (1/3 of the book) on the Austrian Attack, I find it pretty useless at my level. THE 150 ATTACK By far the most common attacks I see at my level are all related to what's referred to as the "150 Attack" or sometimes called by non-Brits the "Caveman Attack". The usual move order is: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3!
The "!" isn't mine, it's John Emms'. In his book Attacking with 1.e4 he recommends the 150 Attack against the Pirc, and I gather the popularity of this book is probably why I see 4.Be3 in over half of my games. White is intending to play Qd2 followed by Bh6 and then O-O-O. And to quote Emms, "[The 150 Attack is] a very simple, but frighteningly effective system." Theoretically Black is able to equalize, but over the board he needs to walk the razor's edge, else end up with a cramped position, a weak/backward d-pawn, or the victim of a crushing Kingside pawn storm. And if he survives, his only reward is equality. Meanwhile, White is under no pressure at all. If Black isn't prepared and plays his natural Pirc developing moves, he's locking himself in a burning barn. Gallagher says of 4...Bg7 5.Qd2 O-O "5...O-O -- the expression, 'castling into it' could have been designed specifically for this move." From this position White scores around 73% at top level play. At club level it's much worse. In the 10 games where I've gone down this route White scored 95%; most of the games finished in the next 10 moves. Unfortunately, Gallagher only provides the "Starting Out" reader with 13 pages of instruction on how to counter this juggernaut. To be fair the line he gives leads to equality, and at his level of play White scores a terrible 50%. So perhaps he felt there wasn't much need to elaborate. But I much prefer the treatement in Pirc Alert!, where Alburt and Chernin offer 30 pages on the line. Emms, Gallagher, Alburt & Chernin, all recommend the following line: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 c6 5.Qd2 b5 6.Bd3 Nbd7 7.Nf3 e5 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.h3 Bb7! 10.a4 a6 11.O-O Bg7 12.Ne2!
12.Ne2! is where Gallagher leaves us. His ending comments on the line don't provide much encouragement for how Black might continue either. "The transfer of the knight from c3 to g3 is White's best plan in such positions. The e-pawn remains firmly defended but the knight no longer obstructs White's play on the queenside. From g3 it will also nip in the bud any adventurous ideas Black may have had on the kingside. Now Black has usually played 12...O-O but after 13.Ng3 the position is actually quite bad..." Not exactly what I'd be hoping for as a player planning on "Starting Out" my Pirc career. Both Emms and Alburt & Chernin continue by adding one final move: 12...Qe7!? (Alburt & Chernin give the !?). Alburt & Chernin also label this a theoretical novelty (TN). And while !? isn't as nice to see as ! at the end of an opening you play, at least it doesn't leave the reader popping Prozac. For the club player this position seems more than playable. Using this line I've scored about 60% with Black. Gallagher's book does provide a small advantage over the Alburt & Chernin book. Only half of the 4.Be3 chapter is dedicated to the above line, the rest is used to discuss the following similar line: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2
4...Bg7 isn't something found in either the Emms book or Pirc Alert! While this line is similar, and often transposes into the 4...c6 line, knowing what to do with the Bishop on g7 is quite handy. Often White is faking his way through the 150 Attack and might not play the optimal move order. If White throws a move order change-up at Black, the bishop will often be stationed at g7. Gallagher, thankfully, makes sure you won't be out of book if this happens. SUMMARY The desirability of this book highly depends on your current skill level. If your playing strength is approximately 1600 Elo or below, this is not the book for you. Pirc Alert!, while not nearly as well written (not even close), is a better primer on this defense. It is more verbose on the ideas and themes of the Pirc - spending more time on lines crucial at your level of play. If you are 1600 Elo or above, or a club player and tournament player, you might want to pick this book up as a light introduction to an exciting counter-punch defense. The lines Gallagher addresses will be more appropriate for your level of play, as you'll more often find yourself across the board from a well prepared Austrian Attack player. The true strength of this book is the writing. Joe Gallagher, like so few chess authors, is competent, witty, and a pleasure to read. His honest and jocular style will keep you reading and keep you relaxed while you play over some harrowing games. Where other authors spend pages explaining the same idea, Gallagher's book is sprinkled with succinct distillations of key positions, just what an opening book should be. -- [1] Gallagher disagrees with Emms and Alburt & Chernin on which move order deserves the name "150 Attack". For Gallagher it is 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be3. In Pirc Alert! this is called the "Hybrid System". Most sources I've read agree with Emms, Alburt & Chernin.
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