Pirc Defense: Austrian Attack (3… g6 4. f4)
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4
The Pirc Defense: Austrian Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO B09, reached after 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4. It is a line of the Pirc Defense. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,845 times by this move order. White won 53%, 5% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 4… Bg7 (93% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.40 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 4… Bg7 5. Bd3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O)
- ECO
- B09
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp1pp1p/3p1np1/8/3PPP2/2N5/PPP3PP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 635 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,910 | |
| 2000+ | 1,300 | |
| All | 3,845 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Bg7 | 3,570 (93%) | |
| 4… c6 | 66 (2%) | |
| 4… Bg4 | 52 (1%) | |
| 4… e6 | 34 (1%) | |
| 4… Nbd7 | 29 (1%) | |
| 4… c5 | 25 (1%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 25 (1%) | |
| 4… e5 | 19 (0%) |
Master games
764 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 19%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM So, W. (2753) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-19
- GM Judit Polgar (2705) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2848) 0-1 · Cuadrangular UNAM 2012 · 2012-11-26
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2783) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2751) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Blitz 2017 · 2017-08-17
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2782) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2753) 1/2-1/2 · 8th Tal Memorial · 2013-06-17
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2776) – GM Hao Wang (2752) 1-0 · FIDE GP Beijing · 2013-07-05
Search all games of the Pirc Defense: Austrian Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sunrise34 (2839) – FM umagon20 (2754) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- sachkachmayni (2612) – FM umagon20 (2764) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- GM jncool68 (2690) – FM Petr_Mikhalchenko (2603) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Pirc Defense (3. Nc3 g6) 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6
Continuations
- Pirc Defense: Austrian Attack, Ljubojevic Variation B09 · 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Bc4
- Pirc Defense: Austrian Attack (5. Nf3 O-O) B09 · 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O
- Pirc Defense: Austrian Attack, Dragon Formation B09 · 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 c5
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: 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
- Pirc Defense: Sveshnikov 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.