Walter Browne facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Walter Browne |
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Browne in 1975
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| Full name | Walter Shawn Browne |
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| Born | 10 January 1949 Sydney, Australia |
| Died | 24 June 2015 (aged 66) Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |
| Title | Grandmaster (1970) |
| Peak rating | 2590 (July 1982) |
Walter Shawn Browne (born January 10, 1949 – died June 24, 2015) was a famous chess and poker player. He was born in Australia but later became an American citizen. In 1970, he earned the special title of Grandmaster from FIDE, which is the world chess organization. Walter Browne won the important U.S. Chess Championship six times during his career.
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Early Life and Chess Beginnings
Walter Browne was born in Sydney, Australia. His father was American, and his mother was Australian. When he was only three years old, his family moved to the New York area in the United States. Later, in 1973, he moved to California.
Walter showed his chess talent early. He won the U.S. Junior Championship in 1966. This was a big win for a young player.
For a while, Walter had citizenship in both Australia and the United States. He played for Australia in chess tournaments. He even won the 1969 Australian Chess Championship. He also tied for first place in an important Asian tournament in Singapore in 1969. This earned him the title of International Master.
His strong play helped him get invited to a big international tournament in Puerto Rico. There, he became a Grandmaster. He tied for second place, right behind the world champion at the time, Boris Spassky.
Walter played for Australia in the Chess Olympiads in 1970 and 1972. The Olympiad is like the Olympics for chess teams. In 1974, he decided to play for the United States team instead.
Winning the U.S. Chess Championship
Walter Browne was incredibly successful in the U.S. Chess Championship. He won this championship six times! This is a huge achievement in American chess.
His wins were in:
- 1974 in Chicago
- 1975 in Oberlin, Ohio
- 1977 in Mentor, Ohio
- 1980 in Greenville, Pennsylvania (he shared this win with two other players)
- 1981 in South Bend, Indiana (he shared this win with one other player)
- 1983 (he shared this win with two other players)
Only two other players, Bobby Fischer and Samuel Reshevsky, have won more U.S. Chess Championship titles than Walter Browne.
Playing for the United States in Olympiads
Walter Browne was a strong player for the United States team in the Chess Olympiad. He played in six Olympiads in total. He won five bronze medals for his team! This shows how important he was to the U.S. chess team.
Here are some of his results:
- 1970 in Siegen (playing for Australia)
- 1972 in Skopje (playing for Australia), where he won a bronze medal for his individual performance.
- 1974 in Nice (playing for the United States), where his team won a bronze medal.
- 1978 in Buenos Aires (playing for the United States), where his team won a bronze medal.
- 1982 in Lucerne (playing for the United States), where his team won a bronze medal.
- 1984 in Thessaloniki (playing for the United States), where his team won a bronze medal.
Other Chess Achievements
Walter Browne was one of the best chess players in America during the 1970s and 1980s. Besides his U.S. Championship wins, he also won many other big tournaments:
- He won the National Open eleven times.
- He won the American Open seven times.
- He won the World Open three times.
- He won the U.S. Open Chess Championship twice (in 1971 and 1972).
He also had many international wins, including tournaments in Venice, Wijk aan Zee, Winnipeg, and Reykjavík. He even won the 1991 Canadian Open Chess Championship.
Later Life and Legacy
In 2003, Walter Browne was honored by being added to the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame. This is a special place for the greatest American chess players.
He continued to play chess and won the U.S. Senior Open in 2005. In 2012, he wrote a book about his life and best games called The Stress of Chess ... and its Infinite Finesse.
In December 2014, he won the Pan-American Senior Championship in Brazil. Just before he passed away, he played in the 50th Anniversary National Open Chess Championship in Las Vegas in June 2015. He also gave chess lessons and lectures.
Walter Browne died in his sleep on June 24, 2015, at the age of 66. He left behind his wife, three sons, and eight grandchildren.
Playing Style
Walter Browne was known for his exciting and aggressive playing style. He often spent a lot of time thinking at the beginning of the game. This sometimes meant he had very little time left for his later moves, which is called "time trouble." Even in time trouble, he played very well and could surprise his opponents.
He was also a world-class speed chess player. In 1988, he even started an organization for blitz chess, which is a very fast form of chess.
Poker Player
Besides being a chess grandmaster, Walter Browne was also a professional poker player. He started playing poker for a living in the early 1970s. In 2007, he finished second in a big poker event at the World Series of Poker. He won a lot of money playing poker throughout his life.
Images for kids
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Browne in 1975
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Browne in 1972
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Browne in 1974
See also
In Spanish: Walter Browne para niños
