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Chessville
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The Pirc in Black and White Reviewed by NM Bill McGeary
Yes, a most unique beast whose handling requires a certain type of eye. How else can you describe an opening that has a line which leads to a draw by repetition on move 12 and that line is viewed as either a strength or a weakness depending on tournament standing? This is a defence that mandates a certain attitude. I think James Vigus has that attitude. Let's be clear: despite the title this book looks at things for Black more than White. Variations are presented as "what White is aiming for and how Black can make use of that idea". Until GM Chernin's "Pirc Alert" the literature on the Pirc failed to provide the necessary ground work on the structure of this defence. Vigus takes that ground work and expands on it. The book starts with 143 pages on the Austrian Attack, a testament to it status as the "must know" variation for Black. Vigus does a great service by considering both 5...c5 and 5...00 variations. He then extends his look into the mainline of 5...c5 giving some older alternatives. For those thinking about playing the Pirc this is valuable because it give possibilities to avoid the force draw variation, thus offering possibilities to play for a win. This material is very valuable as reference to how the Pirc can be a counterattacking defence. Some variations for White aim to hold the space advantage and go forward slowly. The ways for Black to approach this are given excellent coverage by the author. For example, the Classical variation is presented with material/ideas on the old standards (6... c6 and 6... Bg4), while Vigus' favorite 6... Nc6 presented and even the ultra modern 6... e6 receives attention. this gives the reader plenty of ideas to work with. Lines with an early Be3 are the current fashion and have been the ground for much White attention in the past decade. White keeps options open while eyeing a possible lightning attack. The 150-attack, the Accelerated Classical and several other lines have thus come to the forefront. As with the other sections these lines are covered with ideas more than just move sequences. This part of the book has a bit more of an "update to theory" feel to it, but that is probably because of the popularity of the lines. A final section looks at odd lines (6.Bc4, 6.Bf6, 6.Bg5, 6.Be2/7.h4) and proper antidotes are suggested. Mr. Vigus is a new author to me (my only recollection of his name is a game he played versus GM Hodgson). He does a wonderful job of bringing the spirit of this opening to the surface. The research is quite good, though lacking in reference to games prior to 1995. The placement of comments is very important as that is what illuminates the direction of the game from opening to middlegame to endgame. Explaining motives and ideas are the meat of the annotations, so the reader is given the details of what is going on. In both of these factors I like this book a great deal. Proof to me that a good author doesn't need to be a GM. I would recommend
this book highly to intermediate and up players who want to take up this
defence. Lower rated or less experienced players might have some
trouble with it, as some of the basic questions/answers on the defence are
assumed. All in all a great effort and wonderful book.
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