Vasja Pirc (December 19, 1907 – June 2, 1980) was a leading Slovenian chess player. His name is most familiar to contemporary players as the originator of the hypermodern 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.
Read more about Vasja Pirc: Sample Game