Pirc defense against Austrian attack

I have been playing the Pirc for awhile and am by no means an expert of anything. I have had good results, much better for me than the French defense. I have been reading "Pirc Alert!" and have found it to be a very good read. The two main lines by white that seem to get the best of me are as follows.

known as the Austrian attack. e5 is a threat, and I also get fumbles by f5 after the white bishop is at d3. Also, white will try to trade dark squared bishops via Be3 and Qd2 threatening a trade at h6. Can anyone share some wisdom on this please?

the other position I'm not sure what you would call, but it looks like this, my question in  this position is how to develop queenside pawns

All advice will be appreciated, thank you 

AFAIK, a premature e4-e5 is something Black should be happy about, if White's undeveloped and goes for this lunge, just ...Nfd7 and ...c5 should destroy White's center.

Thanks MN, I have been viewing games from this position and have found some interesting games. It just seems like when I lose to this system its because I cant find active counterplay and end up getting smothered on the kingside. Mabye I should post a game next time? BTW, what does AFAIK stand for?

AFAIK = As Far As I Know.

I don't play the Austrian Attack for either side, but I'm pretty sure Black's counterplay stems from trying to prove White's center is overextended with breaks like ...c5. Posting a game probably would help, so me and the other forum-dwellers can see exactly what you're already doing so we can help you improve on it :)

Thanks MN, I'll find a game that went particulairly south for me and then maybe some light can be shed on my issues. be right back after I find a good one.

ok, I have a few, but this one was very dramatic to me because I could find no way to return fire against my opponent. I blundered a pawn at h6 and I lost quickly after that. I'm running a computer analysis on this game right now, but I guess the question I am asking involves technique. for example- how to develop queenside counterplay before the kingside becomes overwhelming. Any advice is very much appreciated.

I'm waiting for the analysis to finish. thanks for your patience, but here is the game without analysis

9...c5! would appear to solve the issue of White's strong center.

good advice MN, I'll use this one in the future. I dont face the Austrian attack often, but when I do it is always a struggle for me. Thank you

looks like you were right MN :) good spot

Yeah, ...c5 is generally the good pawn break in Austrian/Four Pawns Attack positions to avoid getting squashed in the center.

I like 1.e4 d6 2.f4 Nf6 (2...d5) 3.Nc3 d5. The lost tempo isn't supposed to matter since the f-pawn doesn't help White.

cool idea, seems like it could transpose to another opening, but does make a play in the center

Check out this dangerous idea of Naka's:

that is awesome! thank you for this post! I have such trouble as black against this type of attack. That means I should learn to play this as white. very cool game :)

a recent game

I never understood the appeal of the Pirc.

I understand the idea is to counterattack, but it seems to give white a very free hand.

That is one of the debates surrounding this opening. However, it has never been proven that white actually gains any real advantage. There is a lot of theory, and one of the lines that might be better for white is Bg5 to trade off a key defender at f6. One major appeal of this opening is when white overextends in the center and loses any real foothold there IMO. I gave up playing the French and now the Pirc is all I play against e4

It's not as simple as things being refuted or giving away an advantage as most threads here allude to... White usually ends up with a comfortable position out of the opening very easily whereas Black is cramped and a whole lot is required from him to get the same. But Black can usually get tactical chances and the game can be sharp. Anyway I've been following Kramnik and I think he likes setups with a6 instead of c6 which are a lot more risky but lead to tactics more often. Anyway...