Pirc
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nge2!?
A rare continuation - 12th-most popular in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database.
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| How should Black respond? |
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4...c6!?
This is liked by Stockfish17 and Dragon1, along with 4...b5!?, but both lag well behind the obvious 4...Bg7 in terms of popularity.
5.h3!?
As will be seen, the idea of this is not just to prevent a black piece landing on g4.
5...b5 6.a3 Nbd7 7.g4!? Nb6 8.Bg2 Bb7!?
Possibly a novelty - the engines prefer it over the known 8...e5.
9.Ng3 Qc8?!
Taking the sting out of lines where White pushes the e pawn, followed by capturing on b5. But probably a better way is 9...Qc7.
10.b3 a5 11.Be3 Qc7!? 12.Qd2 a4 13.0-0 h5!?
This is Dragon1's top choice for a while, but it makes the black kingside brittle.
14.g5 Nfd7 15.f4 Bg7 16.f5 0-0!?
The engines reckon this is best. Perhaps the point is there is no safe haven for the black king.
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| Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position? |
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White's central and kingside space provide a springboard for attacking the black king. The engines reckon has a positionally won game.
17.Qd3 axb3 18.cxb3 Ba6 19.b4!?
This looks awkward, not least because it gives up the c4 square, but is effective.
19...Nc4 20.Nce2?
This throws away White's advantage. The engines reckon 20.Bf2 is correct.
20...Nxe3?
Black is at least equal after 20...h4, according to the engines.
21.Qxe3 Qb6?!
The engines do not like this, preferring 21...c5 (Stockfish17) or 21...Qa7 (Dragon1).
22.Rad1 Ne5?
This loses control of the f6 square.
23.f6 exf6
The engines prefer 23...Bh8!?
24.gxf6 Bh8 25.Qg5 Kh7 26.Kh1 Nd7
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| White's advantage is so large that the method of winning is largely a matter of taste |
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27.Nxh5 Qd8 28.e5 Ra7 29.Be4 d5 30.Bb1 Re8 31.Rf4 Nf8 32.Rh4 Kg8 33.Qh6!? gxh5 34.Rxh5 Ng6 35.Bxg6 hxg6 36.Qxg6+ Bg7 37.Qh7+ Kf8 38.fxg7+ 1-0
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