Week 89: the Pirc Defense Classical Variation, and a king I left in the centre
Week 89 is one of the shortest in this diary: two rapid games, both on Monday, October 6, 2025, one win and one loss, and my rating ended where it started, at 1168. The win was one of my best games in months, 96.2% accuracy and checkmate. The loss came in the Pirc Defense Classical Variation, and it's a clean example of a mistake I make more often than I'd like to admit: going for an active queen move instead of castling.
The week in numbers
| Games | W / L / D | Rating | Accuracy | Blunders |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 / 1 / 0 | 1168 → 1168 (±0) | 88.8% | 1 |
Most played openings: Modern Defense with 1 d4 (1), Pirc Defense Classical Variation (1).
With two games, the averages mean little. Still, 88.8% average accuracy and a single blunder is the best line in this stretch of the diary. That one blunder decided the loss.
The Pirc Defense Classical Variation game
My opponent, beastbno3432 (1187), played the quiet setup against my g6: 1.e4 g6 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Bd3. No early f4, just knights on f3 and c3 and the bishop on d3, which is why Chess.com files it as the Classical Variation. I answered with 5...Nc6, White pushed 6.d5, and my knight jumped to b4 to hit the bishop on d3. Then came 7.Be3 Bg4 8.Bb5+ c6 9.dxc6 bxc6 10.Ba4, and this position:
The engine had it as equal (-0.13). My king was still on e8, all my minor pieces were out, and castling was available. I played 10...Qa5 instead, attacking White's bishop on a4. It looks active and natural: the queen develops with a threat. Stockfish rated it a blunder, +4.60 for White.
The refutation is a single pawn move. Stockfish's answer for White is 11.a3, attacking my knight on b4. In the game White found it. I didn't want to retreat, so I grabbed a pawn with 11...Nxe4, and 12.axb4 took the knight. The new pawn on b4 also attacked my queen on a5. A knight for a pawn, and my queen chased around, with my king still in the centre. The game ended in a loss on move 22.
What I like about this mistake, if that's the word, is how ordinary it is. My knight on b4 felt safe because the queen was coming to a5 to support it. But a queen next to a knight on the edge of the board, facing a pawn that can move forward with tempo, isn't support. It's a target. Castling first changes nothing about the queenside, and that's the point: it doesn't create a new target. In the engine's line after 10...O-O, both sides castle and the game stays level.
The win: 96.2% and a pawn move one move late
The other game, against RK_524 (1145), was a Modern Defense against 1.d4 and went almost perfectly. This position is the only one the review flagged, and only mildly: my 15...Re8 moved the evaluation from -0.82 to -0.40, still good for me. Stockfish preferred 15...e4 straight away. The pawn attacks the bishop on f3, and by moving it also opens the long diagonal so my bishop on g7 looks at the knight on c3. White's next move, 16.Qe2, was a blunder, and I played 16...e4 then, one move late. I checkmated on move 23.
It's a nice contrast with the loss. In both games the engine's move was the simple, structural one: castle, or push the central pawn. In the loss I chose a queen sortie; in the win I played a useful rook move and got the pawn push in a move later, which cost almost nothing because the position was healthy.
A note on my Pirc and Modern results
Two games can't say much about an opening, so I looked at the last nine weeks of this diary, from week 81. As Black, the games Chess.com named as Pirc lines scored 5 wins and 8 losses. The games named as Modern lines scored 8 wins, 12 losses and 1 draw. Neither is a disaster for a player around 1200, and neither is good. And in those same weeks most of my blunders came in the middlegame, not in the opening.
The lesson of the week
When castling is available and the position is level, castle before starting queen adventures. My 10...Qa5 created a target (the queen next to a knight on b4) that one pawn move could attack. Castling doesn't create targets. It's the boring move, and in this game it was the right one.
All games this week
| # | Date | Colour | Opponent | Result | Opening | Accuracy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1723 | 2025-10-06 | Black | RK_524 (1145) | Win | Modern Defense with 1 d4 | 96.2% | game |
| 1724 | 2025-10-06 | Black | beastbno3432 (1187) | Loss | Pirc Defense Classical Variation | 81.4% | game |
Previous week: week 88. Next week: week 90. All weeks are on the journey page. If you want the same review for your Pirc games, review your own games like this.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Pirc Defense Classical Variation?
In my game it came from 1.e4 g6 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg7: White develops both knights, puts the bishop on d3 and keeps the f-pawn at home. Chess.com filed the game as Pirc Defense, Classical Variation.
What was my mistake in the Pirc Classical game?
10...Qa5, attacking the bishop on a4, instead of castling. Stockfish rated it a blunder (-0.13 to +4.60). White answered 11.a3, attacking my knight on b4, and after 11...Nxe4 12.axb4 the knight was gone.
How did I score with the Pirc and the Modern recently?
From week 81 to week 89, as Black, the Pirc lines scored 5 wins and 8 losses and the Modern lines 8 wins, 12 losses and 1 draw, by Chess.com's opening names.