The Miracle: Henrique Mecking

Photo: Suyk, Koen / Anefo / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

In 1967, in Sousse, Tunisia, the strongest players in the world sat down for an Interzonal, a big qualifying tournament on the road to the World Championship. One of them was a 15-year-old from Brazil. He had won his country's championship at 13.

His name was Henrique Mecking, and everyone in Brazil called him Mequinho. Here is his story, a game he won at that Interzonal, and five more of his early games you can study.

Brazil's Boy Champion

Henrique Costa Mecking was born on January 23, 1952, in Santa Cruz do Sul, in the south of Brazil. He won Brazil's national championship at the age of 13. People compared him to another young star of that time, Bobby Fischer.

Mecking played in few tournaments, but the ones he chose were strong. At 14 he played the South American zonal tournament at Rio Hondo in 1966, and at the end of that year he played the famous Christmas tournament in Hastings, England. In 1967, still only 15, he was playing the Interzonal in Sousse against players like Viktor Korchnoi, Bent Larsen and Samuel Reshevsky.

The Game: Henrique Mecking vs. Aivars Gipslis, Sousse 1967

Henrique Mecking 1-0 Aivars Gipslis Interzonal tournament, Sousse, Tunisia · Round 13 · November 1, 1967 White: Henrique Mecking, age 15 · Black: Aivars Gipslis, Soviet Union

Gipslis was a strong Soviet player. This game shows a plan that every beginner can learn: create a passed pawn, then push it with your pieces behind it.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.e3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 c5 7.Be2 b6 8.Nc3 O-O 9.O-O Bb7 10.d5 exd5 11.cxd5 d6

Mecking has a pawn on d5, in the middle of the board. It takes space away from Black's pieces. For the next ten moves both sides maneuver.

12.Rad1 a6 13.a4 Nbd7 14.Qc2 Rfe8 15.Rfe1 g6 16.e4 Rab8 17.Nd2 Bc8 18.f4 Nf8

The Knight's Journey

Now watch one white knight. It goes from d2 to c4, then to a5, then to c6.

19.Nc4 b5 20.axb5 axb5 21.Na5 Bd7 22.Nc6

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After 22.Nc6, Black to move. The knight on c6 attacks the queen on e7 and the rook on b8 at the same time. The only black piece that can take it is the bishop on d7.

Analyze this position in the full game

The knight attacks Black's queen and rook at once. Black has only one way to capture it:

22...Bxc6 23.dxc6

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After 23.dxc6, Black to move. The white pawn on c6 is a passed pawn: there are no black pawns on the b, c or d files in front of it. It is only two steps from becoming a queen.

Analyze this position in the full game

This is the point of the journey. When Black took the knight, the white d-pawn captured and landed on c6. Now it is a passed pawn, a pawn that no enemy pawn can stop, because there are no black pawns in front of it on its own file or the files next to it.

Opening the Center

23...c4 24.Bf3 Ne6

Our Stockfish 16 check rates 24...Ne6 as a mistake. 24...b4 was Black's best move. Now Mecking breaks open the center.

25.e5 dxe5 26.fxe5 b4

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After 26...b4, White to move. The black pawn attacks the knight on c3. But the white pawn on e5 attacks the knight on f6. Which capture comes first?

Analyze this position in the full game

27.exf6 Qc5+ 28.Qf2 Qxf2+ 29.Kxf2 bxc3 30.bxc3

Mecking took a knight. Black took one back. When the dust settles, White is a pawn ahead, and has two dangerous pawns: one on c6 and one on f6, right next to the black king.

A Rook on the Seventh Rank

30...Kf8 31.Rd7

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After 31.Rd7, Black to move. The white rook has reached the seventh rank. It stands right beside the c-pawn's path, ready to guard c7.

Analyze this position in the full game

The rook goes to d7, the seventh rank. From there it attacks the pawn on f7, and it guards the square c7, where the c-pawn is going next.

31...Rb5 32.Bg4 Rc5 33.Bxe6 fxe6 34.c7

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Final position after 34.c7. The pawn is one step from becoming a queen, and the rook on d7 guards it. Only Black's rook on e8 is left to stop it. Our engine rates White about six and a half pawns ahead.

Analyze this position in the full game

The official game score ends here with White's win. The pawn that started on d2 is now on c7, guarded by the rook, with the black rooks tied up trying to stop it.

Five More Mecking Games to Study

These five games are from the two years when Mecking was 14 and 15. Set each one up on a board, or play through it on your computer, and look for the idea in the note. The engine numbers come from our own Stockfish 16, searching to depth 18 or 20.

• Henrique Mecking vs. Oscar Panno, South American zonal, Rio Hondo, 1966 (1-0). Panno was one of South America's best grandmasters. At move 24 our engine calls the endgame level. Then watch the white king walk all the way across the board: f2, e3, d4, c4, b5, b6, a7, b7 and finally a8, escorting the b-pawn to 46.b7+. The king is a strong piece in the endgame.
• Yuri Balashov vs. Henrique Mecking, Hastings, 1966-67 (0-1). Level until move 40. After 40...Ne2, Balashov plays 41.Bd1, and 41...Bb4 attacks his rook on e1. After 42.Bxe2 Bxe1 Mecking has won a rook for a knight. Our engine prefers 41.Bd3 for White.
• Henrique Mecking vs. Viktor Korchnoi, Sousse Interzonal, 1967 (1-0). A win over one of the best players in the world. The game scores in our two sources disagree about White's 24th move, so start studying at move 25. 25...Rxf4 gives up a rook for a bishop, and our engine keeps the game about level until move 30. Then watch Mecking's rooks and his queenside pawns take over, up to 45.Ra7.
• Borislav Ivkov vs. Henrique Mecking, Sousse Interzonal, 1967 (0-1). Ivkov was a top Yugoslav grandmaster. At move 39 our engine calls the game level. Then 40.g4 weakens the squares around White's king. Mecking's queen and bishop move in, and after 43...Bf2 our engine finds a forced checkmate for Black.
• Henrique Mecking vs. Lubomir Kavalek, Sousse Interzonal, 1967 (1-0). A lesson in patience. Our engine calls it level at move 50. Mecking's g-pawn has marched to g6, next to the black king. After 52.Qa7+ Kh6 53.Qe7, our engine finds a forced checkmate for White.

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Balashov vs. Mecking, Hastings 1966-67, after 40...Ne2, White to move. The white rook on e1 attacks the knight on e2. Balashov played 41.Bd1. How can Black punish that?

Analyze this positionReview the full game

The Illness, and the Return

Mecking won the Interzonals at Petrópolis in 1973 and Manila in 1976, and qualified twice for the Candidates matches, the stage just before a world title match. In 1972 he became Brazil's first grandmaster. His best rating, 2635 in 1977, put him number four in the world. In 1978 he was number three, behind only world champion Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi.

Then he became seriously ill with myasthenia gravis, a disease that makes the muscles weak. In 1979 it forced him to withdraw from the Interzonal in Rio de Janeiro after one round. His illness was so bad that many people believed he would die.

He survived. He did not play chess during the 1980s, but in 1991 he came back with a match against Predrag Nikolić, and in 1992 against Yasser Seirawan. Mecking became a Catholic, and he credits his faith for the improvement in his health. He played for Brazil again at the Chess Olympiads of 2002 and 2004.

A Habit to Practice

Look at your pawns in your next game and ask: do I have a passed pawn, or can I make one? If you can, put a rook behind it or beside it, and push. Then set up the Gipslis game and follow the knight from d2 to c6.