# Week 52: is the Pirc Defense good for beginners? My 3–2 week > Week 52: 21 rapid games, 12 wins and 9 losses, 1184 → 1227. My Pirc Defense games went 3–2 and my average accuracy was 82.9%. - URL: https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w01/ - Updated: 2026-10-22 - Author: Ignacio Soler The first week of 2025 in my diary runs from December 31 to January 5: **21 rapid games, 12 wins and 9 losses, rating 1184 → 1227 (+43)**. The week before I had touched 1200 and fallen back. This time I was back over it on the first day, dipped again, and from January 2 on I stayed above it. My main weapon with Black was the Pirc Defense, so this post tries to answer a question I see beginners ask all the time, is the Pirc Defense good for beginners, using nothing but my own games: **this week the Pirc went 3–2 for me, and the whole picture is less rosy.** ## The week in numbers | | | |---|---| | Rapid games | 21 | | Wins / losses / draws | 12 / 9 / 0 | | Rating | 1184 → 1227 (+43) | | Record with White / Black | 6–5 / 6–4 | | Average accuracy | 82.9% | | Blunders (mine) | 42 | | Most played openings | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation (4), Pirc Defense (4), Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Variation (3) | It was the cleanest week of the winter so far. My average accuracy was **82.9%**, and I made 42 blunders in 21 games, two per game, still a lot, but fewer than the weeks before. **Not a single one of those blunders happened with less than a minute on my clock**, and 35 of them were in the middlegame. Only one game this week (game 1257, against WashedPenguin) was a loss from a position where my winning chance had been above 80%. The previous week there had been five games like that (four losses and a draw). Opponents were strong for me: 17 of the 21 had a higher rating than mine, average 1239, and I went 10–7 against them. One "win" doesn't count for much: in game 1256 my opponent, vipinvijay_21, abandoned before a single move was played. ## The Pirc Defense this week, honestly The Pirc (1.e4 d6 followed by ...Nf6 and ...g6, with the bishop going to g7) gave me three of my best games of the week: - Game 1253 against **Benedetta_99 (1172)**: win, 94.6% accuracy. - Game 1265 against **joshmazur (1261)**: win in 11 moves, 93.4%. - Game 1269 against **Vahe155 (1261)**: win, 88.5%, the game that took me to my weekly peak of 1234. And two losses: game 1252 against **pogolotti (1214)** (below) and game 1261 against **mohmedamir (1328)**, a Pirc Main Line I lost after one blunder, 15...d5, that moved the evaluation from +0.82 to +6.38. So, 3–2. Before you conclude that the Pirc is the answer: I counted all my Pirc games as Black up to the end of this week, and the total was **30 games, 11 wins and 19 losses**, with an average accuracy of 73.7%. My results with Black in general were better than that. A good week is not a good opening; it's a good week. ## Two moments from the week ### Game 1252: a king step instead of a target My Pirc against **pogolotti (1214)** ([game on Chess.com](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129408152347)) had gone well. The engine rated the position −2.46, clearly better for me as Black. > **I was clearly better; the question was whether to make a threat or tidy up my king** > Position (FEN): `r2q4/ppp1pkb1/2np1n1p/5P2/6b1/2N5/PPPP2PP/R1B1QRK1 b - - 0 12` > Played: Kf8 — Kf8 moves the king from f7 to f8 > Better: Nd4 — Nd4 brings the knight to the center and attacks the undefended pawn on c2 I played Kf8, a "safety" move with my king. The engine's choice was Nd4: the knight jumps to the center and attacks the pawn on c2, which has no defender. The engine line is 12...Nd4 13.Qf2 c5 14.d3 Bxf5, and I stay clearly better. After Kf8 the evaluation dropped to −0.30, about equal. My opponent used the time: 13.d3 Qd7 14.Qh4 Bxf5 15.Bxh6, and after 16.Qxh6+ White's queen was giving check next to my king anyway. A few moves later I blundered with 19...Ng4 (−2.39 to +5.88) and the game ended as abandoned. ### Game 1250: a capture that let Black back in The week's first game was a Queen's Pawn Opening, Zukertort Chigorin Variation with White against **milind91 (1199)** ([game link](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129401039841)). I was winning, +3.97. > **Three different moves kept a winning position; the natural capture was not one of them** > Position (FEN): `r2qkb1r/2p1pppp/2n2n2/p2p4/Pp1P1Bb1/1QP1PN2/1P1N1PPP/R3KB1R w KQkq - 0 9` > Played: cxb4 — cxb4 takes the black pawn on b4 > Better: c4 — c4 pushes the pawn from c3 to c4 instead of capturing Taking the pawn on b4 looks obvious. The engine disagrees: after cxb4, Black can take back with the knight (Nxb4) and the evaluation falls to +0.91. It liked three other moves almost equally: c4, Rc1, and Bb5, which pins the knight on c6 to the black king. All three keep me winning, around +4. My opponent didn't take back with the knight (9...Rb8), and I won by checkmate, but this Zukertort Chigorin line went 1–3 for me this week after a 4–2 week before. ## The lesson of the week **When I'm better, I should ask "what can I attack?" before "what can I tidy up?"** Kf8 and cxb4 have something in common: they are comfortable moves that don't create a new problem for the opponent. In both positions the engine preferred a move with a target, the pawn on c2, or keeping the pressure on b4 and c6. The week also gave me a smaller, more encouraging note: with zero blunders under one minute, my clock was not the problem. The decisions were, and decisions are something I can train. On the Pirc question, my answer at 1200 is: it can give a beginner good, playable positions, as three of these games show, but in my hands it was still a losing opening overall. Check your own numbers before you pick it. ## All games this week | Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1250 | Dec 31 | White | milind91 (1199) | Win (checkmate) | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 90.0 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129401039841) | | 1251 | Dec 31 | White | Sagardabhi77 (1207) | Win (checkmate) | Indian Game | 93.6 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129403373851) | | 1252 | Dec 31 | Black | pogolotti (1214) | Loss (abandoned) | Pirc Defense | 68.5 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129408152347) | | 1253 | Dec 31 | Black | Benedetta_99 (1172) | Win (resignation) | Pirc Defense | 94.6 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129422599067) | | 1254 | Jan 1 | White | SujayPeramanu (1188) | Loss (abandoned) | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 85.2 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129434579695) | | 1255 | Jan 1 | White | vosalka (1181) | Loss (abandoned) | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Variation | 84.6 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129461576671) | | 1256 | Jan 1 | Black | vipinvijay_21 (1215) | Win (abandoned) | — (no moves) | — | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129485646991) | | 1257 | Jan 1 | White | WashedPenguin (1238) | Loss (abandoned) | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 54.4 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129485665075) | | 1258 | Jan 1 | Black | xiomara724 (1201) | Win (resignation) | King's Fianchetto Opening | 86.7 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129511425239) | | 1259 | Jan 2 | White | Dervishi58 (1248) | Win (resignation) | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Variation | 80.0 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129591152299) | | 1260 | Jan 3 | White | eftizenharom (1229) | Win (resignation) | English Defense | 61.4 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129632923653) | | 1261 | Jan 3 | Black | mohmedamir (1328) | Loss (abandoned) | Pirc Defense Main Line | 84.1 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129654630081) | | 1262 | Jan 3 | Black | jp_1973 (1213) | Loss (abandoned) | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 82.0 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129661725713) | | 1263 | Jan 4 | White | d3xtremity (1200) | Win (checkmate) | Indian Game | 90.9 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129719401089) | | 1264 | Jan 4 | White | Papipollolove (1354) | Loss (checkmate) | Modern Defense with 1 d4 | 79.9 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129747036429) | | 1265 | Jan 5 | Black | joshmazur (1261) | Win (resignation) | Pirc Defense | 93.4 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129775174831) | | 1266 | Jan 5 | Black | YtsejamSyid (1307) | Win (resignation) | King's Indian Defense Normal Variation | 91.5 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129775727989) | | 1267 | Jan 5 | Black | shumon1234 (1266) | Loss (checkmate) | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 73.9 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129776962703) | | 1268 | Jan 5 | White | Poempoet12 (1243) | Win (resignation) | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Variation | 89.8 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129830968047) | | 1269 | Jan 5 | Black | Vahe155 (1261) | Win (resignation) | Pirc Defense | 88.5 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129836990623) | | 1270 | Jan 5 | White | sintu3236 (1288) | Loss (resignation) | Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 84.9 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/129838733875) | Back to [week 51](/journey/week-2024-w52/), when I first touched 1200, or forward to [week 53](/journey/week-2025-w02/), where the Pirc Classical had a rough week. The full series is on the [journey hub](/journey/), and [Chess Coach](/features/ai-chess-analysis/) can give your own games this kind of review. ## FAQ ### Is the Pirc Defense good for beginners? I can only answer from my own games. That week my Pirc games went 3–2, and the three wins had 88.5% accuracy or better. But up to that point my overall Pirc record as Black was 11 wins and 19 losses in 30 games, worse than my Black results in general. ### Did you blunder under time pressure that week? No. None of my 42 blunders came with less than a minute on the clock. 35 of them were in the middlegame. ### How did you do against higher-rated players? 17 of my 21 opponents had a higher rating than mine, and I went 10–7 against them. ## Related - [From 631 to 1385: my chess journey in 2,117 games](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey.md) - [Week 51: reaching 1200 over Christmas](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2024-w52.md) - [Week 53 (Jan 2025): Pirc Classical 1–4, Black 4–10](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w02.md) - [How many free game reviews on Chess.com? (2026 limits)](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/answers/how-many-free-game-reviews-chess-com.md)