Vasja Pirc

Vasja Pirc (/ˈʋâːsja ˈpîːrt͡s/) (December 19, 1907 – June 2, 1980) was a leading Yugoslav (Slovenian) chess player. His name is most familiar to contemporary players as a strong exponent of the hypermodern defense now generally known as the Pirc Defense. Pirc was champion of Yugoslavia five times: 1935, 1936, 1937, 1951, and 1953. He was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1950, and the Grandmaster (GM) title in 1953. He was made an International Arbiter in 1973.Pirc was born in Idrija, then a part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, and died in Ljubljana.