Pirc Defense: Classical Variation
The Classical Variation of the Pirc Defense is 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3, also known as the Classical System or the Two Knights System. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
4,596,118 games: White 48.0% / Draw 5.2% / Black 46.8%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 4,350,4574.4M | ||
| 89,19989K | ||
| 81,59082K | ||
| 33,31933K | ||
| 13,31313K | ||
| 12,98213K | ||
| 3,9193,919 | ||
| 3,0603,060 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.54 White is slightly better
Best play: 4... Bg7 5. Be3 O-O 6. Qd2 c5 7. dxc5 dxc5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bxc5
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the better this line does for White: White scores 51% under 1400, 54% at 2200 and up and 54% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 1.8M | |
| 1400–1799 | 3.1M | |
| 1800–2199 | 2.6M | |
| 2200 and up | 380K | |
| Masters, over the board | 5,640 |
Master games
- Kramnik, V. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Svidler, P.
- Anand, V. – Carlsen, M.
- Yu Yangyi – Carlsen, M.
- Radjabov, T. – Carlsen, M.
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 26, 2026
Description
The Classical Variation of the Pirc Defense is 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3, also known as the Classical System or the Two Knights System. The usual continuation is 4...Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.O-O.
The idea
White is content with the classical centre of pawns on e4 and d4 and gives up the committal f2-f4 of the Austrian Attack. Black castles and builds a compact structure.
Who plays it
Efim Geller, Anatoly Karpov and Evgeni Vasiukov have all used the system successfully as White, while Zurab Azmaiparashvili has scored well against it as Black.
Transposition to the Dragon
After 4...Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.O-O, the move 6...c5 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 transposes to the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 48.0% of the 4.6 million games and Black 46.8%. The gap is small under 1400, 49.1% against 46.4%, and wider from 2200 up, 50.0% against 42.8%. In 5,640 master games over the board White won 32.6%, Black 23.8%, and 43.6% were drawn.
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Popularity by year
The Pirc Defense: Classical Variation has stayed between 0.16% and 0.18% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (0.18% in 2025).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.16% | 55,667 |
| 2017 | 0.17% | 93,847 |
| 2018 | 0.17% | 136,070 |
| 2019 | 0.17% | 210,316 |
| 2020 | 0.17% | 499,367 |
| 2021 | 0.17% | 676,999 |
| 2022 | 0.18% | 672,823 |
| 2023 | 0.18% | 665,805 |
| 2024 | 0.18% | 658,159 |
| 2025 | 0.18% | 640,956 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.19% | 210,547 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (1)
All 6 named lines that continue from here
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Pirc Defence, version of 21 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Pirc Defense: Classical Variation (B08)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/pirc-defense-classical-variation