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Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 2:18 am
by Alan Llewellyn
this is an example of what can go wrong

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 2:30 am
by Alan Llewellyn
I have good results in blitz against that attack (on the internet chess club) with kf8 what I wanted to know is does the line make any sense in otb?

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 2:35 am
by Paul McKeown
I like setting Tal - Tringov, Amsterdam 64, as an exercise for my less experienced students. It almost always gives them an enormous boost, when they find that they can calculate a combination several moves deep, with several variations. Of course, it was a Modern Defence with Bg5, rather than a Pirc.

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 3:12 am
by Alan Llewellyn
I will take a look at the alternative line for Black 5...c6 and see whether it stacks fish ie works

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 3:25 am
by Alan Llewellyn
er how does one follow those moves for white :(

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 4:26 am
by Alan Llewellyn
The following line is given in nuns book 'new ideas in the pirc defence' which is rather paradoxically an old book I got years ago, but is still excellent.
I cannot find a line in it which goes 6.0-0-0 for some reason after 5...c6

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 4:32 am
by Alan Llewellyn
what looks to me about this position is that c5-c4 temporary pawn sacrifice looks on, this is ignored in the line given for 8...c5 which goes 9 d5?! now c4 seems to get an attack for Black

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 4:51 am
by Alan Llewellyn
Alan Llewellyn wrote:The following line is given in nuns book 'new ideas in the pirc defence' which is rather paradoxically an old book I got years ago, but is still excellent.
I cannot find a line in it which goes 6.0-0-0 for some reason after 5...c6
another book I have 'the pirc in black and white' by vigus also an excellent book gives 6.Bh6 and 6.Nf3 but not 6.0-0-0

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:00 am
by Alan Llewellyn
livebook suggests castling kingside as does Vigus but Nunn and my own instincts suggest that you shouldn't commit to the Kingside there and this line seems good against my chosen essay of an early 0-0-0 by white n the 6th move. This line looks very promising for Black.

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:48 am
by Alan Llewellyn
I have concentracted exclusively on 5 Qd2 here there are other moves for white...

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:04 am
by Alan Llewellyn
Alan Llewellyn wrote:The following line is given in nuns book 'new ideas in the pirc defence' which is rather paradoxically an old book I got years ago, but is still excellent.
I cannot find a line in it which goes 6.0-0-0 for some reason after 5...c6
Alan Llewellyn wrote:what looks to me about this position is that c5-c4 temporary pawn sacrifice looks on, this is ignored in the line given for 8...c5 which goes 9 d5?! now c4 seems to get an attack for Black
The line 8...c5 goes 9.d5?! c4!! 10.Bxc4 Nxe4 11.Nge2 Nd7! 12.Qg7 Rf8 13.Qxh7?! Nxf2! 14.Kxf2?! Qc5+!? 15.Kf1 Qxc4 -/+

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 8:31 am
by Roger de Coverly
Alan Llewellyn wrote:this is an example of what can go wrong


An engine suggests just taking the h5 pawn. While it looks a position in which there's sac, sac, mate as Fischer once said about the Dragon, I don't think it quite works.

In my view defenders in the Pirc have to have an aptitude for defending such positions. If Black doesn't castle, he's compromised in various other ways.

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 8:50 am
by Kevin Thurlow
"er how does one follow those moves for white "

A lot of Tal's opponents wondered that...

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 9:02 am
by John Hickman
There's an interesting discussion on this down at the Chess Pub...

Pirc 4 Bg5: Best Lines/Move Orders

Image

Re: Studying the Pirc, so how to play against the Byrne?

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 10:50 am
by IM Jack Rudd
There's always the Soltis idea of meeting h4 with ...h5. Not sure how good it is in the Pirc, but it's strong in the Dragon.

One idea with the queenside advances is playing Nbd7 and then ...b4 before committing your a-pawn to a5. That way, if he meets ...b4 with Na4, you play Qa5, he probably has to defend with b3, and then you can open him up by playing ...Nb6.