Vasja Pirc

Vasja Pirc (/ˈpɪərts/ PEERTS; Slovene pronunciation: [ˈʋâːsja ˈpîːɾt͡s]) (December 19, 1907 – June 2, 1980) was a Yugoslav chess player. He is best known in competitive chess circles as a strong exponent of the hypermodern defense now generally known as the Pirc Defence.

Pirc was champion of Yugoslavia five times: 1935, 1936, 1937, 1951, and 1953. He was awarded the International Master title in 1950, and the Grandmaster title in 1953. He was made an International Arbiter in 1973.

Pirc was born in Idrija in 1907, then a part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. He died in Ljubljana in 1980.