Vasja Pirc

Vasja Pirc
Pirc in the 1930s
CountryYugoslavia
Born(1907-12-19)December 19, 1907
Idrija, Carniola, Austria-Hungary
DiedJune 2, 1980(1980-06-02) (aged 72)
Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia
TitleGrandmaster (1953)
Pirc vs. Euwe (1950)

Vasja Pirc (/ˈpɪərts/ PEERTS; Slovene pronunciation: [ˈʋâːsja ˈpîːɾt͡s]) (December 19, 1907 – June 2, 1980)[1] 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.[2] He was awarded the International Master title in 1950, and the Grandmaster title in 1953. He was made an International Arbiter in 1973.[1]

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

  1. ^ a b Gaige, Jeremy (1987), Chess Personalia, A Biobibliography, McFarland, p. 331, ISBN 0-7864-2353-6
  2. ^ Chess Informant, volume 30, tribute by Aleksandar Matanovic, Chess Informant publishers, Belgrade 1981.