The Austrian Attack variation of the

Pirc Defence The Pirc Defence (pronounced ) is a chess opening characterised by the response of Black to 1.e4 with 1...d6 and 2...Nf6, followed by ...g6 and ...Bg7, while allowing White to establish a with pawns on d4 and e4. It is named after the Slovenia ...

is a

chess opening A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the "Sicilian Defens ...

characterised by the following moves: :1. e4 d6 :2. d4 Nf6 :3. Nc3 g6 :4. f4 Bg7 Typical continuations include the 5.Nf3 0-0, an immediate attack with 5.e5 Nfd7, or a counterattack with 5.Nf3 c5. The Pirc Defence is one of several hypermodern responses to the opening move

1.e4 The King's Pawn Game is any chess opening starting with the move: :1. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4, e4 It is the most popular opening move in chess, followed by the Queen's Pawn Game. Details about the move and the game plan White opens with t ...

. The aim of the Austrian Attack is to take advantage of Black's hypermodern approach by establishing a broad pawn centre early in the game. The general strategy for White is to use the pawn on f4 to support a breakthrough with e4–e5. Black will often castle early and attempt to find counterplay with c7–c5, or in some cases, e7–e5, or the of the queenside knight.

Performance

The

Chessgames.com Chessgames.com is an Internet chess community with over 224,000 members. The site maintains a large database of chess games, where each game has its own discussion page for comments and analysis. Limited primarily to games where at least one pla ...

master game database records approximately 1850 games which opened with the Austrian Attack. Of those games, White won 39.4%, Black won 28%, and the remaining 32.6% were

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...

Siegbert Tarrasch Siegbert Tarrasch (; 5 March 1862 – 17 February 1934) was a German chess player, considered to have been among the strongest players and most influential theoreticians of the late 19th and early 20th century. Life Tarrasch was born in Bresla ...

successfully employed the Austrian Attack against

Rudolf Charousek Rudolf Charousek ( hu, Charousek Rezső; 19 September 1873 – 18 April 1900) was a Czech born Hungarian chess player. One of the top ten players in the world during the 1890s, he had a short career, dying at the age of 26 from tuberculosis. Re ...

in 1896, securing a win in just 17 moves.

Edward Lasker Edward Lasker (born Eduard Lasker) (December 3, 1885 – March 25, 1981) was a German-American chess and Go player. He was awarded the title of International Master of chess by FIDE. Lasker was an engineer by profession, and an author of ...

unsuccessfully used the opening against

Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf (born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf) (15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was ...

, resigning after 42 moves. In 1952,

Isaac Boleslavsky Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky ( uk, Ісаак Єфремович Болеславський, russian: Исаак Ефремович Болеславский; 9 June 1919 – 15 February 1977) was a Soviet chess player and writer. Early caree ...

tried the opening against

Vasja Pirc Vasja Pirc () (December 19, 1907 – June 2, 1980) was a Slovenian chess player. He is best known in competitive chess circles as a strong exponent of the hypermodern defense now generally known as the Pirc Defense. Pirc was champion of Yugosl ...

(after whom the Pirc Defence is named), but they agreed to a draw after move 62. In the 17th game of the

1972 World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship 1972 was a match for the World Chess Championship between challenger Bobby Fischer of the United States and defending champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union. The match took place in the Laugardalshöll arena in ...

Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky ( rus, Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский, Borís Vasíl'yevich Spásskiy; born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 ...

opened with 1.e4.

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11� ...

responded with the Pirc Defence, for the only time in his career. Botterill 1973, p. 118 Spassky played the Austrian Attack. The game proceeded as follows: :1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Bd3 Qxc5 8.Qe2 0-0 9.Be3 Qa5 10.0-0 Bg4 11.Rad1 Nc6 12.Bc4 Nh5 13.Bb3 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Qxc3 15.f5 Nf6 16.h3 Bxf3 17.Qxf3 Na5 18.Rd3 Qc7 19.Bh6 Nxb3 20.cxb3 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 (see diagram) Qe5 By playing 21...Qe5 instead of 21...Rf8–c8, Fischer offered the

exchange sacrifice In chess, the exchange is a situation in which one player Exchange (chess), exchanges a (i.e. a Bishop (chess), bishop or Knight (chess), knight) for a Rook (chess), rook. The side which wins the rook is said to have ''won the exchange'', while ...

as a means of blunting Spassky's kingside attack. The game ended on move 45 owing to

draw by agreement A game of chess can end in a draw by agreement. A player may offer a draw at any stage of a game; if the opponent accepts, the game is a draw. In some competitions, draws by agreement are restricted; for example draw offers may be subject to the d ...

despite Spassky having a slight material advantage.Boris Spassky vs Robert James Fischer
on Chessgames.com

References

Bibliography * {{Chess Chess openings