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 27; games 1-25 of 652  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 C Peixoto   1-0 32 1965 BRA-ch sf B41 Sicilian, Kan 5. Mecking vs A M Vieira   1-0 36 1965 BRA-ch sf B95 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6...e6 6. Mecking vs E Stenzel ½-½ 38 1965 BRA-ch sf C97 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin 7. Mecking vs N Silveira ½-½ 35 1965 BRA-ch sf C89 Ruy Lopez, Marshall 8. Mecking vs J Vilela 1-0 50 1965 BRA-ch sf A95 Dutch, Stonewall 9. S Dobrowolski vs Mecking   ½-½ 30 1965 BRA-ch sf C86 Ruy Lopez, Worrall Attack 10. O Feiges vs Mecking 0-1 37 1965 BRA-ch sf C54 Giuoco Piano 11. J Goizutis vs Mecking   0-1 54 1965 BRA-ch sf C43 Petrov, Modern Attack 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 J B Moreira 1-0 41 1965 Brazilian Championship E81 King's Indian, Samisch 20. Mecking vs F Alves 1-0 34 1965 Brazilian Championship E64 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav System 21. Mecking vs M Miranda ½-½ 47 1965 Brazilian Championship E46 Nimzo-Indian 22. Mecking vs E Cotta 1-0 38 1965 Brazilian Championship A39 English, Symmetrical, Main line with d4 23. F Vasconcellos vs Mecking   0-1 37 1965 Brazilian Championship E75 King's Indian, Averbakh, Main line 24. H Camara vs Mecking   0-1 48 1965 Brazilian Championship C97 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin 25. A C Rocha vs Mecking   0-1 50 1965 Brazilian Championship E76 King's Indian, Four Pawns Attack  page 1 of 27; games 1-25 of 652

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 8 OF 10 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jan-16-09    TheChessGuy: Welcome back, Mequinho! Jan-17-09    amadeus: He won the Brazilian Internet Blitz Championship a couple of weeks ago: http://www.campbradexadreznainterne... Not bad for an old guy. Jan-28-09    Billy Vaughan: He's no longer last place. Jan-29-09    laskereshevsky: i got what really happened to GM Mecking..... As <chanco> already gived in this page, a picture of a young Mecking when still was a world class player.... http://www.clubedexadrez.com.br/por... more below another photo.... http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1961008... .....victim of a laboratory incident?!..... Apr-02-09    crakling: Mecking saying that he'll need government support to compete in the three year World Championship cycle as he has to dedicate himself deeply to Chess. The description says 1972, but he says that he hasn't become a Grandmaster yet (and has been International Master for three years). He looks and sounds hardly fifteen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f47... I wonder if he spoke English, I doubt if there was much decent Chess literature in Portuguese at the time. He must have at least studied a lot to get so good so fast, since there was no one to teach him directly. Jun-24-09    nummerzwei: In April 2004, i.e. long before I came onto this site, the following splendid piece of thought (concerning Reshevsky) was posted on the Samuel Reshevsky player page by someone called fred lennox: "fred lennox: I've always admired his subtle and twisting tactics. A wizard at generating tension in near symmetrical and nearly drawn positions. Also of keeping the tension going while exchanging. Unlike the other prodigies, Morphy, Capablanca, Fisher, Revhevsky style is not classical. Nor is it hypermodern or romantic. It's what I call "street fighter" style as is Lasker, Korchnoi and Miles. These GMs are pragmatic, tenacious, good at defense, like complications. They aren't drawn to combinations but aren't of afraid of them either." In my opinion, that's also a good description of how Mecking plays, isn't it? What's your opinion? Sep-01-09    Chessical: It appears there will be a match between Henrique Mecking and Alexander Hilario Ta Fier in Sao Paulo 23rd-27th September 2009. This will be between Brazil's first and fifth rated player, with Mecking currently some 102 points below his opponent but, of course, with a lot more experience. Oct-03-09    walker: Magnus Carlsen reminds me a lot of Mecking when he was his age. Nov-26-09    amadeus: Mequinho? http://twitter.com/GM_Mequinho Dec-25-09    vonKrolock: South American Zonal http://www.brasilbase.pro.br/rot196... and the play-off next year http://www.brasilbase.pro.br/rot196... ...so, he was awarded the FIDE IM title for his performance in Rio Hondo 1966 (at the age of 14 years and four/five months) or only after winning the playoff in 1967, being already 15 years old in the end ?!) Jan-23-10    wordfunph: Korchnoi-Mecking Match in Augusta USA 1974: During one of the last few games, Mecking informed Korchnoi that he was being disturbed by Korchnoi's heavy breathing. Happy Birthday GM Henrique "The Bandit" Mecking! Jan-23-10    Oliveira: Feliz aniversário, Mequinho! Mar-12-10    Chessical: The games of the Mecking v Hilario Ta Fier match Sao Paulo 23rd-27th September 20092009 are collated here: Game Collection: Match - Mecking v Hilario Ta Fier - 2009. Dec-28-10    kingfu: I notice that Maestro Mecking has played no games in 2010. Does anybody have any updates? Dec-29-10    Tads: New information about Mecking and an exclusive interview (podcast) for Radio Chess. Look in: http://www.vidaemminiatura.blogspot... Jan-21-11    Tads: Read an extensive, current and interesting new interview with Mecking in: http://tinyurl.com/6h2qtzu #RadioXadrez #ChessRadio Jan-23-11    waustad: People now tend to forget just how good he was before he got sick. Jan-23-11    talisman: happy birthday! Jan-23-11    kingfu: I cannot find my car keys. I DO remember that Enrique was VERY good! Thanks for the updates, folks. Jan-23-11    Raginmund: Em todo caso, ainda é o melhor do Brasil. Feliz aniversário, Mecking. :) Jan-25-11    Antiochus: Today Mecking finished 3TH in the Antonio Rocha memorial, behind Leitao and Vescovi http://www.chess-results.com/tnr426... Jan-25-11    talisman: henrique is giving the Ryan Braun (what mitch williams calls) "fish eye look" out of the corner of his eye...this is what ryan does when he hits a home run after a pitcher has come inside "high and tight". Feb-05-11    kingfu: My bad. Even though I did Spanish in school for many years, I did not spell Henrique correctly. Lastima, maestro. Welcome back, we need you. Feb-05-11    Jim Bartle: "Even though I did Spanish in school for many years, I did not spell Henrique correctly." Possibly that is because "Henrique" is in Portuguese. Oct-25-11    Wrong: http://ratings.fide.com/individual_... a nice 13.5/14 by Mecking despite his opposition is not that very strong. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 10) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 8 OF 10 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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