View source for Vasja Pirc

{{Short description|Slovenian chess player}}
{{Infobox chess biography
| name          = Vasja Pirc
| image         = Vasja Pirc.jpg
| caption       = Pirc in the 1930s
| country       = Yugoslavia
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1907|12|19|mf=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[Idrija]], [[Duchy of Carniola|Carniola]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1980|6|02|1907|12|19|mf=yes}}
| death_place   = [[Ljubljana]], [[SR Slovenia]], [[SFR Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]
| title         = [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] (1953)
| peakrating    = 
| peakranking   =
}}
[[File:Wereldschaaktoernooi eerste dag Max Euwe tegen V. Pirc (links), Bestanddeelnr 904-2913.jpg|thumb|Pirc vs. [[Max Euwe|Euwe]] (1950)]]

'''Vasja Pirc''' ({{IPAc-en|'|p|ɪər|t|s}} {{respell|PEERTS}}; {{IPA|sl|ˈʋâːsja ˈpîːɾt͡s}}) (December 19, 1907 – June 2, 1980)<ref name="Gaige">{{citation | last=Gaige | first=Jeremy | author-link=Jeremy Gaige | year=1987 | title=Chess Personalia, A Biobibliography | publisher=McFarland | isbn=0-7864-2353-6 | page=331}}</ref> was a Yugoslav [[chess]] player. He is best known in competitive chess circles as a strong exponent of the [[hypermodernism (chess)|hypermodern]] defense now generally known as the [[Pirc Defence]].

Pirc was champion of Yugoslavia five times: 1935, 1936, 1937, 1951, and 1953.<ref>''Chess Informant'', volume 30, tribute by [[Aleksandar Matanovic]], [[Chess Informant]] publishers, [[Belgrade]] 1981.</ref> He was awarded the [[International Master]] title in 1950, and the [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] title in 1953. He was made an [[International Arbiter]] in 1973.<ref name="Gaige"/>

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

==Sample game==
{{AN chess|pos=secleft}}
Although Pirc had a minus record against [[Alexander Alekhine]], he beat Alekhine with the black pieces in a [[Blitz chess|blitz]] game in [[Ljubljana]] in 1930:

[[1.d4 e6]] (Queen's Pawn Game, [[Horwitz Defense]]) 2.c4 (usually transposes to openings such as [[Queen's Gambit Declined]], [[Nimzo-Indian]] or [[Queen's Indian]]) 2...Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bd2 b6 5.f3 Bxc3 6.Bxc3 d5 7.e3 0-0 8.Bd3 c5 9.Ne2 Nc6 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Qa4 Qd7 12.Qc2 Nb4 13.Bxb4 cxb4 14.b3 Rac8 15.e4 h6 16.e5 dxc4 17.bxc4 Nd5 18.Qd2 Nc3 19.Rae1 Rfd8 20.d5 exd5 21.c5 Rxc5 22.Nd4 Bc8 23.e6 Qc7 24.exf7+ Kxf7 25.f4 Ne4 26.Qb2 Rc3 27.Nf3 Kg8 28.Ne5 Qc5+ 29.Kh1 Qd4 30.Qe2 Bf5 31.g4 Ng3+ 32.hxg3 Bxd3 33.Nxd3 Rxd3 34.Rd1 Qe4+ 35.Qg2 Rc8 36.Rxd3 Qxd3 37.Rf2 Rc1+ 38.Kh2 a5 39.Rd2 Qe4 40.Qxe4 dxe4 41.Kg2 a4 42.Rd4 Rc2+ 43.Kf1 Rxa2 44.Rxb4 e3 45.Rxb6 e2+ 46.Kf2 a3 47.Ra6 Ra1 48.Kxe2 a2 {{chessAN|0–1}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1012674 |title=Alexander Alekhine vs. Vasja Pirc, Ljubljana 1930 (blitz) |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|Vasja Pirc}}
* {{chessgames player|id=13190}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pirc, Vasja}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:Chess Grandmasters]]
[[Category:Chess theoreticians]]
[[Category:Chess Olympiad competitors]]
[[Category:Chess arbiters]]
[[Category:Slovenian chess players]]
[[Category:Yugoslav chess players]]
[[Category:People from Idrija]]
{{Slovenia-chess-bio-stub}}
{{Yugoslav Chess Championship}}