Pirc Defense: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Pirc Defense · 1.e4 d6 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), Black scored 49.1% in 38,376 Pirc Defense games (±0.5; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

Black won 47.3% of them, White won 49.1%, and 3.6% were drawn.

Black scores below 50% at this level (outside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, Black scored 49.1% (±0.5) with the Pirc Defense in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (38,376 games). Observed results, not causation.

Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database) · Page updated: 9 Oct 2026

2.7%

of rated games at Lichess rating 1800–2099 reached the Pirc Defense · 35,477 of 1,329,701 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

Under 1200: 2.3%. At 1800–2099: 2.7%. 1.2× as common at 1800–2099 as under 1200.

Position after 1.e4 d6. 138,874 games in this sample reached it.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 50.9% (1500–1799) to 51.6% (2100+).
That spread is within the approximate margin of error, so this sample shows no clear difference between levels.
It appeared most often in the 1800–2099 group (2.7% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (4.6%).

These are observed results for the selected games (rated, players within 200 rating points of each other). They describe what happened — they do not prove the opening caused the result.

Results by Lichess rating level

Each row shows how the Pirc Defense games at one rating level ended: White wins, draws and Black wins, across all time controls combined. Rating level is the average Lichess rating of both players.

White won drawn Black won. Pirc Defense — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 120018,561 gamesCompared with

White wins 49.6% · draws 3.4% · Black wins 47.0% · White's score 51.3% ±0.7 · how common 2.3%
1200–149927,855 games

White wins 49.8% · draws 3.3% · Black wins 46.9% · White's score 51.4% ±0.6 · how common 2.3%
1500–179938,376 games

White wins 49.1% · draws 3.6% · Black wins 47.3% · White's score 50.9% ±0.5 · how common 2.4%
1800–209935,477 gamesIn the headline

White wins 49.1% · draws 4.3% · Black wins 46.7% · White's score 51.2% ±0.5 · how common 2.7%
2100+18,605 games

White wins 49.3% · draws 4.6% · Black wins 46.1% · White's score 51.6% ±0.7 · how common 2.7%

"White's score" = wins + half of draws. "±" is an approximate 95% margin based only on the number of games. It does not cover sampling bias or related games (the same players appear many times), so real uncertainty is larger. "How common" = share of all sampled games at that level that reached this position. Ratings are Lichess ratings; they are not interchangeable with Chess.com or FIDE ratings.

Compare it with another choice from the same position, at the Lichess level and time control you choose: Compare in Find Your Opening (the comparison needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

Each row shows how the Pirc Defense games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

Pirc Defense — results by time control, all rating levels combined (minimum 300 games per row)
Time control	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	White's score
Bullet	52,469	49.2%	2.8%	48.1%	50.6%
Blitz	64,061	49.2%	4.3%	46.5%	51.3%
Rapid	21,527	50.1%	5.0%	45.0%	52.5%
Classical	817	48.2%	5.4%	46.4%	50.9%

This table and the rating rows are separate summaries: rating levels are not split by time control here, and time controls are not split by rating. Observed results only; approximate uncertainty applies as above.

Most played replies for White at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is White's score after that reply (wins + half of draws). These comparisons alone can't show that one reply is reliably better — the margins are approximate and stronger or weaker players may prefer different replies.

Replies to 1.e4 d6 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	2.Nf3 ·34.4% · 6,370 · 52.5% ±1.2 2.d4 ·32.6% · 6,032 · 51.0% ±1.2 2.Bc4 ·10.6% · 1,961 · 53.2% ±2.2
1200–1499	2.d4 ·37.8% · 10,513 · 51.3% ±0.9 2.Nf3 ·34.2% · 9,506 · 51.2% ±1.0 2.Bc4 ·9.5% · 2,635 · 51.1% ±1.9
1500–1799	2.d4 ·42.3% · 16,230 · 50.3% ±0.8 2.Nf3 ·30.2% · 11,579 · 50.9% ±0.9 2.Nc3 ·7.6% · 2,916 · 52.1% ±1.8
1800–2099	2.d4 ·51.4% · 18,223 · 50.6% ±0.7 2.Nf3 ·23.8% · 8,455 · 50.5% ±1.0 2.Nc3 ·9.0% · 3,178 · 53.2% ±1.7
2100+	2.d4 ·58.8% · 10,934 · 51.8% ±0.9 2.Nf3 ·17.1% · 3,174 · 50.1% ±1.7 2.Nc3 ·13.9% · 2,591 · 54.1% ±1.9

Up next: related positions with a page

Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 (King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation)
Related line: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 (Scandinavian Defense: Mieses-Kotroc Variation)
Related line: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 (Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian)

Other choices from the same position for Black: each one's own level and score, as on its page
Opening	Lichess rating level	Games	Black's score
vs Sicilian Defense 1.e4 c5	1500–1799	157,898	49.5% ±0.2
vs Scandinavian Defense 1.e4 d5	1500–1799	111,308	50.1% ±0.3
vs French Defense 1.e4 e6	1500–1799	100,536	50.3% ±0.3
vs Caro-Kann Defense 1.e4 c6	1500–1799	86,546	50.2% ±0.3
vs Modern Defense 1.e4 g6	1500–1799	36,516	49.1% ±0.5
vs Owen Defense 1.e4 b6	1500–1799	23,435	48.6% ±0.6

Each row is a separate page with its own games. A difference smaller than the two margins combined is no clear difference. Observed results, not causation.

Deeper positions with this name

The free opening list gives the name Pirc Defense to 3 deeper positions on this line as well. This page counts the first one; games in the 12-month sample that reached each deeper one:

1.e4 d6 2.d4: 69,006 games
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6: 35,349 games
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6: 18,530 games

Download these numbers: Pirc Defense (CSV), released under CC0. For move-by-move exploration with your own filters, see the free Lichess opening explorer. This independent page lists each rating level and each time control in its own row for comparison.