The Austrian seems overbooked by any Pirc player... rather than out-book them with it, I'd say that if you enjoy sharp tactical fights, there's the "Mad Dog" attack system ( google for it) with an early Bc4, Qe2 and the fairly visceral "screw the endgame and mate the bastard" motif.
I've had a lot of luck with it at the U1800-U2000 levels in OTB games but I'm sure the titled players might call it unsound.
i play the pirc myself both as black and against it as white with austrian attack so i feel im starting to know it well. im just not sure how well it is against white with extra tempo. im gonna try out the mad dog system you mention. why not:)
I pretty much treat the Pirc/Moderm as a Sicilian Dragon, playing a Yugoslav-type attack (I think it's called the Argentinan Attack):
It's a fairly rudimentary attack that scores well for White, his middlegame plan is fairly clear and comprehensible... no dark magic... first to the King, wins!
I usually defend the Petroff but I try to get my hands dirty by playing the Pirc Defense as well. I know I shouldn't be telling you this but I have to let it out because I don't know with it either as black.
if blacks defends the Pirc I usually play
with the last move 5.h3, it restricts the activity of black's queen bishop, no nasty pin at the g4 square, at the same time, preparing for a kingside attack by pushing my kingside pawns
thanks for good suggestions but i have a very misleading title. what i meant was what to do when im black and white plays d3 and plays the pirc/modern moves. im gonna try change it
I pretty much treat the Pirc/Moderm as a Sicilian Dragon, playing a Yugoslav-type attack (I think it's called the Argentinan Attack):
It's a fairly rudimentary attack that scores well for White, his middlegame plan is fairly clear and comprehensible... no dark magic... first to the King, wins!
I've never seen this called the Argentinan Attack. I've always seen it called the 150 Attack. Recently, I've learned some useful stuff to help me play it better.
First, white doesn't need to play f3. The point of that move was to prevent Ng4, hitting the bishop on e3. But if black does this, just play Bg5, and white's fine, even if black plays h6 Bh4 g5 Bg3. Black just weakens his king side this way. So play Nf3 instead of f3, and your knight will be better positioned to support the king side attack later.
Second, if black plays c6 and b5, white shouldn't castle queen side. You're just walking into his attack when you do. Play Bd3 to hold up your e4 pawn, then if b4, move the Nc3 to e2, headed for the king side to aid the attack. You're supposed to castle king side in that case, but I've had some games where black plays those moves after I've started my attack with h4, so I've ended up keeping the king in the center and staying pretty safe, as long as my king side attack gets going fast enough. Just avoid central pawn exchanges if you do that.
If you're interested in more info on this opening line, GM Aaron Summerscale did a Foxy Openings DVD on it. I forget the exact name and number for it, but it was early in the Foxy Openings videos.
Playing an Austrian Attack with colors reversed might be tricky, probably one of those lines where the extra tempo will mean quite a bit.
If that doesn't work, there's always Anti-Kng's Indian Attack type structures as 1.d3 really is just a different move order to enter the King's Indian Attack, and they tend to give Black equality.
i found out reversed 150 attack work ok for me:) when i play it as white i get annoyed anyway when all pieces are ready to crush the kingside but he havent castled there yet and can choose queensidecastling. the loss of one tempo is not bothering me. if it stops working i will check out your suggestions.
the thread says it all. i face it ALOT on chess.com. i usually play the modern/pirc myself but as black! im not sure if that is good here. can i play the austrian attack like i do with 1.e4 or will the extra tempo for white change the outcome?