GM Walter Browne, Six-Time US Champion, 1949-2015 Print E-mail
June 25, 2015
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GM Walter Browne, Photo Tony Cortizas, Jr,
The US Chess Federation regrets to report that six-time US Chess Champion Grandmaster Walter Browne died in Las Vegas in his sleep at the age of 66. He was in Vegas to participate in the National Open, where he tied for 9th-15th and also gave a 25-board simul. He was also playing in the World Series of Poker. 

The "king of Swisses", Browne was also known for short as "Six-Time, as he won US Championships in 1974-1977 and 1980, 1981 and 1983. Fitting for a man who also played poker professionally, he also dominated Las Vegas chess tournaments as an 11-time National Open Champion. Browne was very active in recent years and was the 2014 US Senior Champion (Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article, stated that Browne was the reigning champ. GM Alexander Ivanov actually earned the title earlier this month.)
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Walter was an intense, fearsome competitor, described with admiration by IM John Donaldson for his relentless passion for chess, and by GM Yasser Seirawan as a particularly tough opponent: 

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Walter was author of the acclaimed book, The Stress of Chess and its Infinite Finesse and a prolific blogger. Also an inventor of a chess variant Finesse, which he talked to US Chess about in a video clip from the 2013 National Open.



Check this link for any further updates on memorial information. Look for more memories of Walter Browne in CLO and upcoming issues of Chess Life Magazine.  Please feel free to share your own memories of him in the comment section. 
 
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