Career
4 in the world. He is the first Brazilian to become a grandmaster. Despite winning his first national championship at the age of 13, he played in very few tournaments. In 1975, he twice shared second place behind Ljubomir Ljubojević, firstly at Las Palmas with Ulf Andersson and Mikhail Tal and then at Manila with Lev Polugaevsky, Bent Larsen and Helmut Pfleger.
He was considered a contender for the World Championship in the mid-70s, however his chess career was interrupted by a serious illness.
Mecking played for Brazil in the Chess Olympiads of 1968, 1974, 2002 and 2004. Mecking was a regular participant in FIDE events to choose a challenger for the World Chess Championship.
He was subsequently eliminated from the Candidates Tournament in the quarterfinals, after losing his match against Korchnoi. Still, from this time until 1979, he was the strongest player born in the West after Bobby Fischer"s effective retirement in 1972.
Illness (myasthenia gravis) forced his withdrawal from the Interzonal in Rio de Janeiro 1979 after a first round draw with Borislav Ivkov.
His illness was so severe that it was widely believed he would soon die. He survived but did not play chess during the 1980s. While he was able to recover and to resume his chess career in 1991 with matches against Predrag Nikolić and (in 1992) Yasser Seirawan, followed by intermittent tournament appearances, his chance at the world title had passed and he did not reach the Candidates matches again.
Mecking v.
Fischer 1970, Buenos Aires, Grunfeld ½–½
Mecking v. Gipslis, Interzonal 1967, 1–0. A game from Mecking"s first Interzonal, played when he was 15 years old.