Week 56: Pirc vs Modern Defense, one setup and three losses
Week 56 is short: four rapid games between January 27 and 30, 2025, one win and three losses, rating 1288 → 1272 (−16). All three losses came with Black, two in the Pirc Defense and one in the Modern Defense. Since those two names come up in almost every week of this diary, I used this small week to look at a question I see a lot, Pirc vs Modern Defense: what is actually different, and which one worked better for me?
The week in numbers
| Rapid games | 4 |
| Wins / losses / draws | 1 / 3 / 0 |
| Rating | 1288 → 1272 (−16) |
| Record with White / Black | 1–0 / 0–3 |
| Average accuracy | 77.2% |
| Blunders (mine) | 8 |
| Most played openings | Pirc Defense (2), Queen's Pawn Opening Horwitz Defense (1), Modern Defense Standard Line (1) |
The only win was a clean one: 96.1% accuracy and no blunders with White against Kryptto (1253), over in 15 moves when my opponent left. The rest of the week went one way. My three Black games had accuracies of 82.5%, 54.1% and 76.2%, and Chess.com recorded every game of the week, all four, as abandoned. In my three losses the engine already rated the final position between +8.11 and +10.33 for White.
Pirc vs Modern in my own games
The labels sound like two different openings. In my games they were almost the same thing:
- Game 1347 (Pirc): 1.e4 d6 2.Bc4 g6.
- Game 1348 (Pirc): 1.e4 d6 2.Bc4 g6, then ...Nf6, ...Bg7 and castling.
- Game 1350 (Modern, Standard Line): 1.h4 d6 2.e4 g6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg7, then castling.
Same pawns on d6 and g6, same knight on f6, same bishop on g7. The name changed with the move order. So the more useful comparison is the long-run one. Counting all my games as Black up to the end of this week, the Pirc had 20 wins and 34 losses in 54 games, and the Modern 8 wins and 12 losses in 20. Average accuracy was almost identical, 74.8% and 75.5%. Neither was working.
Where the three games went wrong
Game 1347: taking back with the king
With Black against dilshod252 (1300) in the Pirc (game on Chess.com), White had just taken on f7 with the bishop, with check. I was already worse, +2.34 for White.
I took with the king. The engine wanted the rook. After Kxf7, one of White's best answers is Qf3: the queen attacks my knight on f6 with my king behind it (a pin, so the knight can't move) and my rook on a8, which has no defender. That's a double attack along two lines at once. The evaluation went from +2.34 to +6.00. The game went 17.Rxd6 Nd7 18.Qf3+ Kg8 19.Qxa8, and the rook on a8 was gone. With 16...Rxf7 the king stays on g8, and the engine line keeps me at about +2.5 instead of +6.
Game 1348: a winning position I let go
The same day, with Black against Buddhakumar (1310) in another Pirc (game link), I was slightly better, −1.02.
After d5, the engine's reply is Nxc6: the knight takes my pawn on c6 and attacks my queen. The evaluation went from −1.02 to +2.56, and my opponent played exactly that. What makes this game painful is what came later. I fought back and reached a winning position (−5.58 for me, a peak winning chance of 97.5%), and then on move 41, with 78 seconds left, I played Qxa4 and the evaluation flipped to +8.33.
Game 1350: the knight jump that lost a bishop
Three days later, the Modern Defense against smart-ishhh (1267) (game). The position was equal, −0.25.
Ne5 offers a knight trade, and it moved the evaluation from −0.25 to +3.12. After 11.Nxe5, the engine notes, White's bishop on e2 suddenly attacks my bishop on g4. In the game I played 11...Bxe2, my second blunder in two moves, then 12.Nc6 came in, and after 14.Nxe7+ the game was over.
The lesson of the week
The Pirc and the Modern are the same problem for me with two names. What went wrong this week wasn't the opening name; it was what happened around my king and my loose pieces in the middlegame: a recapture with the king that walked into a pin, a pawn push that left c6 undefended, a trade that exposed my bishop. When I have a choice of how to capture or which pawn to push, I want to compare the options by asking which one leaves a piece without a defender. That is a habit, not an opening, and it would have helped in all three games. Changing from "Pirc" to "Modern" would have helped in none.
All games this week
| Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1347 | Jan 27 | Black | dilshod252 (1300) | Loss (abandoned) | Pirc Defense | 82.5 | game |
| 1348 | Jan 27 | Black | Buddhakumar (1310) | Loss (abandoned) | Pirc Defense | 54.1 | game |
| 1349 | Jan 29 | White | Kryptto (1253) | Win (abandoned) | Queen's Pawn Opening Horwitz Defense | 96.1 | game |
| 1350 | Jan 30 | Black | smart-ishhh (1267) | Loss (abandoned) | Modern Defense Standard Line | 76.2 | game |
The week before was week 55, with two time losses; next is week 57, a single game. Find every week on the journey page, or review your own Pirc and Modern games the same way.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the Pirc and the Modern Defense in your games?
Mostly the move order. In my two Pirc games I played 1...d6 and 2...g6; in the Modern game, after 1.h4, I played 1...d6 and 2...g6 as well and then ...Nf6 and ...Bg7. Chess.com gave the games different names, but I ended up with the same pawns on d6 and g6 and the same pieces on f6 and g7.
Which scored better for you, the Pirc or the Modern?
Up to the end of this week, as Black: the Pirc had 20 wins and 34 losses in 54 games (74.8% average accuracy), and the Modern 8 wins and 12 losses in 20 games (75.5%). Both were losing records.
How did your games end that week?
All four were recorded as abandoned. In my three losses I stopped playing in positions the engine rated between +8.11 and +10.33 for White; in my win, my opponent stopped after 15 moves.