Rating: 
Summary: GREAT OPENING BOOK
Review: ...I do not have 1000 books. I look to maximise the quality of my time spent studying chess.
This book meets that key need, it focuses on playing the Pirc as the main black response to e4. Lev Albert is a great teacher and this book is no exception. Clear diagrams, easy to understand concepts and step by step notes make this a clear, fairly easy way to acquire almsost half of the opening repetoire that you need as black (the other is to have a response to d4). Yes its pricey ... however it is two to three times the size of books in the "Winning series" that retails for slightly less.
If you are serious about a solid opening and one that brings you to above master standard then seriously consider this book. The best feature for me is sufficient diagrams per page to dispense with a chess set. GM Chernin has a reputation of being a bit ahead of his time so I figure a couple of the lines will be mainline theory soon. As a first in depth opening book its ideal. The only pity is we are waiting on the next book from this team to meet D4 and a book on openings for white.
Rating:
Summary: Very good instructive values.
Review: Emphasis on pattern recognition rather than rote learning. One wishes other opening authors take a que from this book, the presentation style. Anxiously awaiting the next volumes.
Rating:
Summary: awesome!
Review: Finally...a book written from the hearts of real
TEACHERS...not some boneheaded GM's that a chess book company
contacts to write some next to worthless opening book
to make a few bucks (ie. Opening for the Disfunctional
Player..etc).Alburt and Chernin are doing a great service for those of us who don't have personal trainers/coaches and have a limited amount of time for opening prep. I cannot wait for the next volumes in this series. Alot of my
previous chess opening books are now shelved forever.
Pirc Alert! sets the standard.
Rating: 
Summary: Best opening book I have ever read
Review: For context, I'm a class C player with an estimated USCF rating somewhere between 1500 and 1600. This is a book for the player who wants to understand the ideas behind the opening; not just recommended lines to be remembered by rote. The ideas include white's plans and possible counter-plans for black. It describes good plans and warns about plans to avoid. The book is split into 3 parts:
1. How to use the book
2. General ideas and plans based on pawn structures that arise in the Pirc, and the role of individual pieces during the execution of those plans
3. Variations that are recommended for black for each of white's major options. This section of the book starts each section with diagrams of important positions to be remembered, and ends with diagrams showing critical positions and the best move for white or black. The whole presentation of the material makes it obvious that the authors have years of experience in the field of chess training. So, if I think the book is so good, why did I give it a 4-star rating instead of 5? Minor quibbles really:
1. The subtitle "A complete Defense Against 1. e4" is misleading. It could be the heart of a complete defense but, for one or two lines, the reader is referred to using another defense not covered in the book.
2. The general ideas given in Part 2 could have done with a little more context. In particular, you have to refer forward to Part 3 to find out why black cannot always use the "preferred" pawn structure where black gets the easiest play.
Rating:
Summary: The bishop belongs on e7
Review: I agree with one of the reviewers that says "To fianchetto the bishop against 1 e4 is inferior at club level play" (I'm paraphrasing). I used to play the King's Indian against both 1 d4 and 1 e4 and I know exactly what he means. Although the fianchetto setup is very solid defensively in the opening, the bishop lacks offensive punch, especially if c3 is played after d4. In fact, I'm currently studying ways to defeat the bishop fianchetto setup using the Fritz 8 database (although I'm a d4 player, the fianchetto setup is also fallable, but much tougher than, say the Queen's Indian). If white doesnt move his c- and d-pawns after d4 and c3, what does the black king's bishop have to strike? Granite? Meanwhile, since the center is usually still at least semi-closed white can trade off his Bishop, keep his queen at h6, and then pawn storm and minor piece black into oblivion. The modified pirc I'm playing to correct this problem involves something like this: 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Bd3 h6?! (I do not want Bg5) 4 Nf3 Bg4 5 h3 Bh5 6 0-0 a6?! (again, no Bb5 to harass my precious knights, which are about to help close the center) 7 Nc3 Nc6 8 Bf4 Nd7!? (often chased to this square by the bishop or e-pawn, but this time it's on offensive repositioning) 9 Re1 e5
Usually d5 will follow, but dxe5 is easily met by a multiple minor piece exchange, that favors the side with less space (black). Now, with 10 d5, black will play ...Nb8 ...Be7, ...0-0, and have a nice game after ...f5. Remember that in a closed center, moves like h6 and a6 do not lose important tempos as they would in an open system. And unlike, Bg7, the Be7 is poised to be traded off to facilitate a kingside attack by black, not white!
Rating:
Summary: The bishop belongs on e7
Review: I agree with one of the reviewers that says "To fianchetto the bishop against 1 e4 is inferior at club level play" (I'm paraphrasing). I used to play the King's Indian against both 1 d4 and 1 e4 and I know exactly what he means. Although the fianchetto setup is very solid defensively in the opening, the bishop lacks offensive punch, especially if c3 is played after d4. In fact, I'm currently studying ways to defeat the bishop fianchetto setup using the Fritz 8 database (although I'm a d4 player, the fianchetto setup is also fallable, but much tougher than, say the Queen's Indian). If white doesnt move his c- and d-pawns after d4 and c3, what does the black king's bishop have to strike? Granite? Meanwhile, since the center is usually still at least semi-closed white can trade off his Bishop, keep his queen at h6, and then pawn storm and minor piece black into oblivion. The modified pirc I'm playing to correct this problem involves something like this: 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Bd3 h6?! (I do not want Bg5) 4 Nf3 Bg4 5 h3 Bh5 6 0-0 a6?! (again, no Bb5 to harass my precious knights, which are about to help close the center) 7 Nc3 Nc6 8 Bf4 Nd7!? (often chased to this square by the bishop or e-pawn, but this time it's on offensive repositioning) 9 Re1 e5
Usually d5 will follow, but dxe5 is easily met by a multiple minor piece exchange, that favors the side with less space (black). Now, with 10 d5, black will play ...Nb8 ...Be7, ...0-0, and have a nice game after ...f5. Remember that in a closed center, moves like h6 and a6 do not lose important tempos as they would in an open system. And unlike, Bg7, the Be7 is poised to be traded off to facilitate a kingside attack by black, not white!
Rating:
Summary: Simply Oustanding
Review: I am a working adult who after 13 years of absence from the Chess scene, am now making a "comeback".
I had problems chosing a reply to 1.e4 as black, because I felt that I wanted to advoid the heavily analysed Sicilian Defence. Also the Caro Kann, French and Ruy Lopez did not appeal to me.
Pirc is excellent because it has similarities to the KID which I also play, and thus the amount of study needed is reduced.
The book is oustanding because it is written by outstanding grandmasters who obviously know, play and won with the defence. It is a confdence boost that the defence has been tried and tested at the highest levels.
But more importantly, the authors have took great care in presenting the materials from the basic concepts to the intricate variations. They even add sypnosis and summaries so that the reader may be able to revise on what he has learnt.
Finally, the use of color to highligh salient and key points is also a great feature of the book.
My only complaint is the really ugly cover. Something needs to do done about that. Otherwise a 5 star book by 5 star authors.
Rating:
Summary: good style, but inadequate analysis of the classical pirc
Review: I have never been convinced that the Pirc is a solid defence, but it can be a very fun defense in speed chess. Understanding that I only purchased this book to improve my ability to play the Pirc as black in speed chess, this book served it's purpose. This book has the best style I have ever seen in a chess book. There are enough pictures and explantions that most of the main points are readable without a chess set. There are review questions at the end of each chapter to see if you understood the main points of each chapter. The suggestions about when to play c5 instead e5 are excellent. The main points about playing c5 have been put onto blue pages so that they are easier to find. Unfortunately, this book has three drawbacks. The line the authors' recommend against the classical pirc is clearly losing for the player of the black pieces. Also, this book is written from black's perspective, so it probably won't teach you how to defeat the Pirc unless you count the losses you may experience when playing the author's recommended line against the classical variation. Finally, instead of taking advantage of their good style to make this book a quick study, the authors made this book much longer than it needed to be. Half of this book seems to be padding. Overall, this book is a good source for learning how to use good style when writing a chess book. I recommend that the authors of most other chess books read this book before they write any more chess books. More importantly, at the time of this review (Sept. 19, 2002) this is the best book on the Pirc Defense that I could find. Although I have never been convinced that the Pirc is a solid defense, understanding the basics of the Pirc can make it fun to play as blitz opening.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, except for one thing...
Review: I spent about 3 months going through this entire book and it really helped to improve my game as Black. I have several opening books and this is by far the best one. I would be shocked to find a better book on the Pirc or any other opening.
There is one very irritating shortcoming, though. The book only considers White's supposedly best 2nd move, d4, and offers little help for games where White does something else, like, say, d3. This causes problems for variations like Be3 (followed by Qd2 and a kingside attack), where the theoretical variation focuses on counterattacking the pawn center by ...c6, ...b5 (threatening b4), etc. If the evil white player plays d3, this plan is absolutely futile, and the basic plan by White is unchanged, leaving Black with no apparent plan (I came up with one later on my own -- after I got my butt stomped...). As an intermediate player, I see nonstandard openings by White in almost every game. There needs to be more discussion about how to play against the common nonstandard things that White can do. It seems that Pirc Alert and the other opening books (the others are FAR worse at this also) spend a great deal of time dealing with what to do against the enemy's best moves, but not very much effort on how to exploit nonstandard moves.
This is still a great book. I own about 10 chess books at this point, covering most of the major areas of the game, and this is the best of all my books. I just have the one little gripe listed above.
One aspect that I don't usually see in these reviews is physical quality. The is a very well-made book and has taken a tremendous amount of punishment from me with no sign of coming apart. The diagrams, paper quality, binding strength, print quality, etc are all excellent. Several of my other books are already threatening to come apart and I haven't spent half the time with them as Pirc Alert. The book would be less effective as a long-term opening manual if it did not possess these qualities.
Rating:
Summary: THE Pirc Handbook!
Review: I will write a more detailed review later. But this is THE book to buy if you play the Pirc. Players ABOVE 1900 will find it VERY useful.
(Why don't they ever put diagrams in a book from Black's side or perspective? I think there should be TWO versions of a book like this, one for a WHITE Pirc Player, and one for a BLACK Pirc Player!)
An overall nine out of a possible 10!
(09/2002) Addendum: I now have had this book for probably more than 6 months. (Several fans sent me a copy.) None of my original comments have changed. This is still THE book for the player who wants to play this line. ESPECIALLY if you are planning to play this line in postal or tournament chess!!
There are literally DOZENS of good things about this book, LOTS of explanations, in depth discussions of the tactical and strategic plans. (Etc.) This makes this an opening book SEVERAL levels above average!! It is even a good teaching vehicle! But it is also somewhat dense, several persons have e-mailed me and told me players below a certain rating (say 13-1500) may have a lot of difficulty understanding this treatise.
Now for the few drawbacks to this book. It is VERY much slanted to the player who wishes to play the BLACK side of this line, players of the White pieces will find themselves wondering where certain lines are covered. EXAMPLE: Let's start with the Austrian Attack. (Page # 213.) After the moves: 1.e4, d6; 2.d4, Nf6; 3.Nc3, g6; 4.f4, Bg7; 5.Nf3. Players of the White pieces would hope to find 5...0-0; covered in detail. But you WON'T! Why not? The authors simply pass over this move and recommend Black play 5...c5. Now this move IS covered in GREAT detail .... the authors have left almost no stone uncovered in their comprehensive analysis of these variations. But again, what if you are trying to learn these lines from the White side? (Simple answer: Better have MCO or NCO on the shelf!)
This scenario is repeated over and over. The writers of this book - top GM's who play this line - are telling you to play the lines that they play. (Kinda makes sense, don't it?) But again, players of the White side of the board are left out in the cold.
I could go on and on, but by now - I trust you get the point. Any player who wants to play (and really learn) the Black side of this difficult and uncompromising defence has got to buy this book. Players on the other side of the board - who play these lines - will also need this book; if for no other reason ... to see what lines Alburt and Chernin recommend to the 2nd player, and to plan their repertoire accordingly.
Any player (like me), expecting in depth and and encyclopedic coverage in a book that is 448 pages ... will be a little dissapointed.
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