Nimzowitsch Defense: Pirc Connection
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 g6
The Nimzowitsch Defense: Pirc Connection is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 g6. It is a line of the Nimzowitsch Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 322 times by this move order. White won 53%, 4% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nf3 (36% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.70 (Stockfish, depth 33; best line 3. d4 Bg7 4. Be3 d6 5. Qd2 Nf6)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppppp1p/2n3p1/8/4P3/2N5/PPPP1PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 g6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 141 | |
| 1500-1999 | 152 | |
| 2000+ | 29 | |
| All | 322 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nf3 | 116 (36%) | |
| 3. Bc4 | 73 (23%) | |
| 3. d4 | 44 (14%) | |
| 3. f4 | 26 (8%) | |
| 3. d3 | 15 (5%) | |
| 3. g3 | 15 (5%) | |
| 3. Bb5 | 12 (4%) | |
| 3. a3 | 4 (1%) |
Master games
47 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 34%, draw 13%, Black 53%). The strongest:
- FM Igor L. Vakhlamov (2413) – GM Pranesh M (2627) 0-1 · Titled Tue 10th Feb 2026 · 2026-02-10
- FM Guerau Masague Artero (2343) – GM Pranesh M (2584) 1-0 · Titled Tue 18th Mar Early · 2025-03-18
- GM Tingjie Lei (2505) – WGM Rameshbabu Vaishali (2393) 1-0 · Women's Speed Chess Main · 2021-06-19
- CM Matfey Rogov (2291) – GM Pouya Idani (2603) 0-1 · Titled Tue 12th Nov Late · 2024-11-12
- GM Kateryna Lagno (2506) – FM Anastasia Avramidou (2323) 0-1 · WSCC 2026 · 2026-07-16
Search all games of the Nimzowitsch Defense: Pirc Connection and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- MothToTheFlame (2637) – IvanKalajzic (2423) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Servantik1979 (2512) – kintoho (2520) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- FM besfighter (2450) – IvanKalajzic (2437) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Nimzowitsch Defense (1. e4 Nc6) 1. e4 Nc6
More Nimzowitsch Defense lines (all)
- Nimzowitsch Defense (1… Nc6 2. d4) B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Breyer Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Colorado Countergambit B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Colorado Countergambit Accepted B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Declined Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense, El Columpio Gambit B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense, Exchange Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: El Columpio Defense, Pin Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Franco-Nimzowitsch Variation B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: French Connection B00
- Nimzowitsch Defense: Hornung Gambit B00
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.