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Happened Today in the Chess World - Jan 23, 2024

MEQUINHO

GM Henrique da Costa Mecking

Today is the birthday of Grandmaster Henrique da Costa Mecking, born in Santa Cruz do Sul, Brazil, on January 23, 1952.
A precocious talent, Mecking won the Brazilian Championship at 13; at 15, he qualified for the Interzonal in Sousse, and at 19, he became a GM.
Mecking lived his golden time in the seventies, winning the interzonal in Petropolis in 1973 and Manila 1976, joining the candidates for the World Title, but then losing to Kortschnoj and Polugaevsky.
In 1977, Mecking reached third place on the Elo list but was forced to retire because of a severe illness, which took him many years to recover from.
Mecking became a priest, and got back to competitive chess in the nineties, showing his intact positional talent.

Henrique Mecking (2575)-Lian Ann Tan (2365), Petropolis (Interzonal) 1973
White to move