Walter Browne

Walter Shawn Browne (10 January 1949 – 24 June 2015) was an Australian-born American chess and poker player. Awarded the title Grandmaster (GM) by FIDE in 1970, he won the U.S. Chess Championship six times.

Early years Browne was born to an American father and an Australian mother in Sydney. His family moved to the New York area when he was age 4. He attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn but dropped out at age 16 to play chess professionally. Browne moved to California in 1973.

Browne won the U.S. Junior Championship in 1966.

Browne had dual Australian and American citizenship until he was 21,

U.S. championships

He won the U.S. Chess Championship six times. His victories were at Chicago 1974 with 9½/13, Oberlin 1975 with 8½/13, Mentor 1977 with 9/13, Greenville 1980 with 7½/12, South Bend 1981 with 9/14, and 1983 with 9/13. Of these six titles, three were shared, with three-way ties in 1980 and 1983, and a two-way split in 1981. His six titles have been exceeded only by the eight titles of Bobby Fischer, all won outright by at least a point, and Samuel Reshevsky.

Interzonals Browne qualified for three Interzonal tournaments, but never came close to qualification for the Candidates Tournament. At the Manila Interzonal 1976, Browne scored 8½/19 for 15th place. At the Las Palmas Interzonal 1982, he placed last of 14 contestants with 3/13. Finally, at the Taxco Interzonal 1985, he scored 6½/15 for a tied 9–13th place. His chess accomplishments earned him not one but two nicknames: "Six-time" and "King of the Swiss".

After dominating the U.S. Championship for a decade, however, Browne was unable to approach the same level in that event after 1983. In U.S. Championships, he scored just 7½/17 in 1984, 6½/13 in 1985, 6/15 in 1986, 6/13 in 1987, and 6/15 in 1989. On 22 June 2015, Browne played in the 50th Anniversary National Open Chess Championship at the Westgate Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. He tied for 9th–15th. At the 2015 Las Vegas International Chess Festival, Browne also gave a 25-board simultaneous exhibition, a lecture series, and taught a chess camp. That same weekend, Browne took byes in the National Open so he could play in the 2015 Senior Event at the World Series of Poker. He played well but did not win money.

After a week of chess and poker, Browne stayed at the home of a lifelong friend in Las Vegas, and died in his sleep on 24 June 2015. He was 66. He was survived by his wife of 42 years, Dr. Raquel Browne, a clinical psychologist.

Books

Playing style

Browne tended to spend a lot of his allotted time during the opening moves and early middlegame; consequently, he often wound up in . This sometimes led to mistakes, even though Browne played well in time trouble, and good play during this phase could unsettle his opponents. A world-class speed chess player, Browne in 1988 formed the World Blitz Chess Association, but it ended in 2004 after encountering financial troubles.

As Browne's play improved through the 1970s, his deportment and demeanor at tournaments reportedly changed as well:With this improvement in play there also came a marked improvement in tournament etiquette and behaviour. Always noted for his fighting spirit, there had been a number of occasions when his allegedly unsporting behaviour had offended both organizers and players alike. But the new Browne, while retaining his competitive and aggressive spirit, was more amenable to tournament discipline and in consequence a more formidable grandmaster.

Notable games

One of Browne's best games, a coruscating against International Master Bernard Zuckerman: Another brilliant win, this one against GM Larry Christiansen:

Poker Browne was a professional poker player from the early 1970s. Browne won $269,203 in live events.