Pirc Defense (1. e4 d6)

1. e4 d6

Pirc Defense after 1. e4 d6 87654321abcdefgh

The Pirc Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 d6. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 304,979 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 2. d4 (49% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.43 (Stockfish, depth 57; best line 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7)

ECO
B00
Moves
2 plies
FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/3p4/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2
PGN
1. e4 d6

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average ratingGamesWhite / draw / Black
0-1499114,77050%46%
1500-1999148,88649%47%
2000+41,32349%45%
All304,97949%46%

Most played moves

MoveGamesWhite / draw / Black
2. d4
Pirc Defense (1… d6 2. d4)		148,631 (49%)50%46%
2. Nf380,977 (27%)49%47%
2. Bc422,733 (7%)50%46%
2. Nc318,632 (6%)50%46%
2. f4
Harmonist		13,059 (4%)50%46%
2. d36,390 (2%)48%48%
2. Qf33,081 (1%)50%47%
2. c41,724 (1%)47%49%

Master games

5,584 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 15%, Black 46%). The strongest:

Search all games of the Pirc Defense and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Comes from

King's Pawn Game (1. e4) 1. e4

Continuations

More Pirc Defense lines (all)

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.