GM Henrique Mecking
Bio
Henrique Costa Mecking, also known as Mequinho, is a Brazilian grandmaster. At the top of his career, Mecking was ranked third in the world, only behind GMs Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi. Many consider him to be the strongest Brazilian grandmaster in history.
Mecking enjoyed considerable success throughout his career. Notably, he won the Brazilian Championship in 1966 and 1967, the South-American Championship in 1967, the Petropolis Interzonal in 1973, and the Manila Interzonal in 1976. He participated in the Candidates Tournament twice but lost to Korchnoi in 1974 and Lev Polugaevsky in 1977.
Mecking had to step away from professional competitions in 1978 after being diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. At the time, his illness was so severe that many thought he would not survive. However, Mecking recovered and returned to chess in 1991. Despite his forced hiatus, he's still among the best players in his country.
