Pirc Defense: Austrian Attack, Kurajica Variation
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be3
The Pirc Defense: Austrian Attack, Kurajica Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B09, reached after 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be3. It is a line of the Pirc Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 141 times by this move order. White won 55%, 2% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nbd7 (23% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.31 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6… Ng4 7. Bd2 c5 8. dxc5 Nd7 9. cxd6)
- ECO
- B09
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/3p1np1/8/3PPP2/2N1BN2/PPP3PP/R2QKB1R b KQ - 4 6- PGN
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 25 | |
| 1500-1999 | 71 | |
| 2000+ | 45 | |
| All | 141 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nbd7 | 32 (23%) | |
| 6… Bg4 | 26 (18%) | |
| 6… c6 | 16 (11%) | |
| 6… b6 | 15 (11%) | |
| 6… c5 | 14 (10%) | |
| 6… Nc6 | 13 (9%) | |
| 6… Ng4 | 9 (6%) | |
| 6… a6 | 6 (4%) |
Master games
207 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 19%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- GM Ernesto Inarkiev (2694) – GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili (2607) 1-0 · FIDE World Cup 2017 · 2017-09-03
- GM Judit Polgar (2685) – GM Onischuk, V. (2594) 1-0 · FIDE World Blitz 2014 · 2014-06-19
- GM Martyn Kravtsiv (2621) – GM Onischuk, V. (2612) 0-1 · Corsican Circuit Final · 2015-10-19
- GM Arturs Neiksans (2613) – GM Onischuk, V. (2601) 0-1 · Mikhail Tal Mem Rapid · 2017-03-05
- IM Kirill Shevchenko (2527) – GM Gawain C B Maroroa Jones (2660) 0-1 · TCh-ESP Div Honor 2017 · 2017-08-19
Search all games of the Pirc Defense: Austrian Attack, Kurajica Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- joobree (2554) – FM umagon20 (2725) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- joobree (2533) – NM manneredmonkey (2630) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- joobree (2515) – NM manneredmonkey (2591) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Pirc Defense: Austrian Attack (5. Nf3 O-O) 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O
More Pirc Defense lines (all)
- Pirc Defense (1. e4 d6) B00
- Pirc Defense (1… d6 2. d4) B00
- Pirc Defense (2. d4 Nf6) B00
- Pirc Defense: Roscher Gambit B00
- Pirc Defense (3. Nc3 g6) B07
- Pirc Defense: 150 Attack B07
- Pirc Defense: 150 Attack, Inner Doll Defense B07
- Pirc Defense: 150 Attack, Sveshnikov-Jansa Attack B07
- Pirc Defense: Bayonet Attack B07
- Pirc Defense: Byrne Variation B07
- Pirc Defense: Chinese Variation B07
- Pirc Defense: Kholmov System B07
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.