Walter Browne

Walter Shawn Browne (10 January 1949 – 24 June 2015) was an Australian-born American chess and poker player. Awarded the title Grandmaster 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 3. 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, and represented Australia for a short time. He won the 1969 Australian Chess Championship. He tied first with Renato Naranja while representing Australia at the 1969 Asian Zonal tournament in Singapore, earning the International Master title, though Naranja qualified for the 1970 Interzonal on tie breaks.