HENRIQUE MECKING (born Jan-23-1952, 73 years old) Brazil [what is this?] Henrique da Costa Mecking was born in Santa Cruz do Sul. He learned chess at the age of 6. He won his state championship at the age of 11. In 1965, when just thirteen years old, he won his country's championship, 2.5 points more than 2nd place. For this victory, many chess critics hailed him as "the next Fischer," referring to the fact that Robert James Fischer had won the US championship at fourteen. Mecking also won the Brazil championship in 1965 and 1967, never playing in another Brazilian championship, except for the 2011 edition (in which he placed third). In 1966, he was South American champion (jointly) with Julio Bolbochan, Oscar Panno and Alberto Foguelman. He played in the Sousse Interzonal (1967) at the age of 15 and won the Sousse speed championship. Mecking was awarded the title of International Grandmaster in 1971 (at the age of 19) after winning at Vrsac and taking 3rd at Hastings. South American champion at Sao Paulo, zt 1972, 2,5 points ahead of Oscar Panno and Miguel A Quinteros. He won two Interzonal events, Petropolis Interzonal (1973) (without a loss) and Manila Interzonal (1976) (only losing to Spassky). These and other tournament victories vaulted him to third place on FIDE's world rankings list in 1977, behind only World Champion Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi. In 1979, Mecking was attempting his third consecutive Interzonal victory (Rio de Janerio) when he was forced to withdraw from the tournament, having been stricken with near-fatal illness (myasthenia gravis). It took 12 years for him to recover enough to resume his chess career. He still lives in Brazil and maintains a high rating, although he has not managed to rejoin the world's elite. By 2009, Mecking was Brazil's fifth highest rated player. He took on the then Brazilian number one, Alexandr Hilario Takeda dos Santos Fier, in a match of four classical games in Sao Paulo, Brazil 23rd-27th September 2009. The match was drawn 2 all - Game Collection: Match - Mecking v Hilario Ta Fier - 2009. Wikipedia article: Henrique Mecking

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page 1 of 26; games 1-25 of 643  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Mecking vs S Benevenga ½-½ 25 1964 Porto Alegre C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 2. Mecking vs H van Riemsdijk   1-0 32 1964 Rio Grande do Sul Championship D82 Grunfeld, 4.Bf4 3. Mecking vs D van Riemsdijk   ½-½ 42 1964 Rio Grande do Sul Championship D82 Grunfeld, 4.Bf4 4. Mecking vs A M Vieira   1-0 36 1965 BRA-ch sf B95 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6...e6 5. S Dobrowolski vs Mecking   ½-½ 30 1965 BRA-ch sf C86 Ruy Lopez, Worrall Attack 6. Mecking vs J Vilela 1-0 50 1965 BRA-ch sf A95 Dutch, Stonewall 7. Mecking vs C Peixoto   1-0 32 1965 BRA-ch sf B41 Sicilian, Kan 8. J Goizutis vs Mecking   0-1 54 1965 BRA-ch sf C43 Petrov, Modern Attack 9. Mecking vs N Silveira ½-½ 35 1965 BRA-ch sf C89 Ruy Lopez, Marshall 10. O Feiges vs Mecking 0-1 37 1965 BRA-ch sf C54 Giuoco Piano 11. Mecking vs E Stenzel ½-½ 38 1965 BRA-ch sf C97 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin 12. F Trois vs Mecking   ½-½ 42 1965 BRA-ch sf C78 Ruy Lopez 13. Mecking vs M E de Freitas   ½-½ 32 1965 Brazilian Championship C58 Two Knights 14. C Peixoto vs Mecking ½-½ 22 1965 Brazilian Championship E81 King's Indian, Samisch 15. E Stenzel vs Mecking   0-1 47 1965 Brazilian Championship B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen 16. P Toth vs Mecking   0-1 62 1965 Brazilian Championship A07 King's Indian Attack 17. Mecking vs J de Souza Mendes 0-1 60 1965 Brazilian Championship B06 Robatsch 18. Mecking vs L Tavares da Silva 1-0 51 1965 Brazilian Championship A61 Benoni 19. Mecking vs E Cotta 1-0 38 1965 Brazilian Championship A39 English, Symmetrical, Main line with d4 20. A C Rocha vs Mecking   0-1 50 1965 Brazilian Championship E76 King's Indian, Four Pawns Attack 21. Mecking vs M Miranda ½-½ 47 1965 Brazilian Championship E46 Nimzo-Indian 22. Mecking vs F Alves 1-0 34 1965 Brazilian Championship E64 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav System 23. H Camara vs Mecking   0-1 48 1965 Brazilian Championship C97 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin 24. Mecking vs J B Moreira 1-0 41 1965 Brazilian Championship E81 King's Indian, Samisch 25. F Vasconcellos vs Mecking   0-1 37 1965 Brazilian Championship E75 King's Indian, Averbakh, Main line  page 1 of 26; games 1-25 of 643

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 9 OF 10 ·  Later Kibitzing> Oct-25-11    Ken Chamberlain: Mecking was good, and so was Bob Dylan. Life goes on. Dec-21-11    Petrosianic: <Mecking also won the Brazil championship in 1965 and 1967, never playing in another Brazilian championship.> He played in the one just now completed, so this bio needs updating. Jan-01-12    whiteshark: "One of the wonders of chess history was the appearance in the chess arena in the mid-20th century of a young Brazilian, who in a few years acquired sufficient strength and experience to fight for the title of world champion. In Brazil, a country famous for its football but with a lack of chess traditions, there emerged a youngster who at the age of 13 scored 50% in a very strong grandmaster tournament, the so-called 'Interzonal' in Sousse in 1967. The youngster did not rest on his laurels, and in 1973 he won the Interzonal Tournament in Petropolis! Looking at the history of chess competitions, I have to conclude that <[Henrique] Mecking's successes> were exceptional. I consider the Brazilian player's talent to be comparable with that of the brilliant individuals Mikhail Tal and Magnus Carlsen." --Viktor Korchnoi Jan-01-12    King Death: <whiteshark> Korchnoi made a small mistake: Mecking was 15 at Sousse though this was a fine result anyhow. Jan-23-12    brankat: I still remember quite well H.Mecking's participation in '67 Interzonal. Forty-five years ago already? Wow! Happy Birthday GM Mecking! Sep-15-12    Antiochus: Life and games: http://www.brasilbase.pro.br/jmeck.... Mar-15-13    Marmot PFL: Korchnoi beat Mecking in a match so his praise now is understandable. At the time Korchnoi said that Mecking lacked original ideas and was afraid of him in endings. (After winning the Interzonal Mecking evidently said he was the #3 player in the world, behind Fischer and Karpov). Apr-24-13    Yopo: Mequinho foi o maior jogador sul-americano que que o mundo viu até hoje. Najdorf não pode vencê-lo, mas ele venceu Najdorf 3 vezes. Granda esteve entre os 20 primeiros, mas Mecking apareceu na lista da FIDE de 1977 com 2645 pts, 3rd do mundo, atrás apenas de karpov e korchnoi.Mecking foi o primeiro a ganhar 2 interzonais, antes de Gelfand. Nem todos sabem, mas Fischer queria colocar seu título em jogo contra o brasileiro. Acontece que Fischer pedia muito alto, sua contrapoposta para o Hilton hotel de Las vegas foi de 10 milhões de dólares em 1973. Mequinho não pode superar os soviéticos e se apresentar como desafiante, pelas regras da FIDE. Mas se tivesse conseguido, estou certo de que Fischer iria enfrentá-lo. Fischer estava em guerra com as regras para desabafar, o que ele realmente temia era o "staff" de Karpov, que poderia incluir todos os mestres soviétcos e até espionagem. O que as pessoas realmente gostam de ver é xadrez. Então, porque não incluir mais partidas do Mecking na database? Mecking at his best: Mecking vs Najdorf, 1971 May-03-13    Yopo: Naturalmente, eu estava me referindo a este torneio: http://www.brasilbase.pro.br/ti2011... Jan-23-14    brankat: Happy Birthday! Feb-06-14    offramp: He has, I believe, some extreme millenarial views based on the teachings of a Brazilian Roman catholic order. My Portuguese is not up to it. Does anyone have first hand news? Feb-27-14    Gottschalk: "Don't make war, make chess " Henrique Mecking Apr-05-14    zanzibar: Here is another link to an English-language transcription of the radio interview (which I assume was in Portuguese). http://players.chessdom.com/henriqu... Sep-03-14    chancho: A more up to date photo of Henrique Mecking: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KV6howy8u... Oct-26-14    pazzed paun: H. Mecking the Grandmaster that could read players minds according to V. Korchnoi Oct-26-14    john barleycorn: <pazzed paun: H. Mecking the Grandmaster that could read players minds according to V. Korchnoi> with a few misreadings, I suppose: Viktor Korchnoi beat Henrique Mecking 5 to 2, with 12 draws. Nov-25-14    pazzed paun: don't forget that later on Korchnoi developed the anti-Mecking counter strategy of wearing a tin foil hat and lining the soles of his shoes with copper coins to block the sapping mindreading rays! Korchnoi has said that the match with Mecking was most Unpleasant Jan-23-16    Eduardo Bermudez: 64 years 64 squares 64 chess games Jan-23-16    sonia91: Happy birhday! <Eduardo Bermudez> nice :) Jan-23-16    TheFocus: Happy birthday, GM Henrique Mecking. Jan-23-16    lost in space: Happy Birthday. GM <HM> Feb-24-16    zanzibar: This is the youngest picture of him I've ever seen: http://soloscacchi.altervista.org/w... (I think he's ~15 years old there, playing in this tournament: Sousse Interzonal (1967)) See also: http://soloscacchi.altervista.org/?... Jun-29-16    Nosnibor: <Zanzibar> In the book "Mequinho De Um Genio" by Rubens A.Filguth which is a biography of Mecking on page 31 there is photograph of him dressed in a coat and wearing a tie aged 12 years old in 1964. Nov-25-16    disasterion: <‘Which player on the international circuit got on more of his colleagues’ nerves than any other? That’s easy − nine out of ten grandmasters would instantly nominate Henrique Mecking... Over and over again, Mecking restlessly adjusted half the pieces until each occupied the exact geometric center of its square. It didn’t stop him that the rules forbade this when his opponent’s clock is running. Nor did he confine his compulsive adjustments to the pieces. He was known to reach over to the other side of the table and line up his opponent’s pen to make it perpendicular to the chessboard edge and equidistant from the scoresheet margins. His chess, however, was no indication of the tenseness underlying it. His style was classical, serene, positional and logical.’ Robert Byrne > http://www.kingpinchess.net/2016/09... Nov-25-16    Howard: Mecking was known, as I recall, for being a paranoid player. Kavalek remarked in his coverage of the Polugavesky--Mecking 1977 match that he changed seconds "as often as he changed shirts." On another note, that book by Byrne was a classic potboiler, if you ask me ! It was just a rehash of his past NYT columns. Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 10) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 9 OF 10 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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