150 Attack

Pirc Defense

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 c6 5.Qd2

White plays Be3 and Qd2 to trade Black's bishop with Bh6 and attack the king.

Fun fact: The 150 Attack got its name because, as Sam Collins writes, even a 150-rated player can handle the white side; 150 on the old British scale is about 1825 Elo. Source

Practice this line

The idea

After 4.Be3 c6 5.Qd2, White has a simple setup. The queen and bishop line up for Bh6, trading Black's fianchettoed bishop, and White can follow with castling queenside and a kingside pawn storm. Black's ...c6 prepares ...b5 for queenside counterplay.

Plans for White

Play Bh6 to trade the bishop on g7, castle queenside and push h4 and h5 against Black's king. Nf3 or f3 support the center. The setup is easy to play without learning much theory, which is the point of the line.

Plans for Black

Gain space on the queenside with ...b5, and develop with ...Nbd7 and ...Bg7. Black can also pin the knight with 5...Bg4, which Lichess calls the Inner Doll Defense. Delaying castling avoids walking into White's kingside attack.

Watch out for

For Black, castling into the attack. With White's queen and bishop aimed at h6 and pawns ready to storm, a castled king on g8 can come under fire very quickly.

For White, Black's queenside play. ...b5 and ...b4 can hit the knight on c3 and the center, and if White castles queenside, Black's pawns are already moving toward that king.