Cover Story / GM Walter Browne
Walter Browne: A chess life well lived A remembrance by Bruce Pandolfini
Walter Browne was 14 when I first realized he was extraordinary. A year older than Walter, I didn’t know who he was when I saw him in Washington Square Park demolish a master player in a speed game. Obviously, the game is a blur to me. But one facet of it instilled a vivid impression. The self-assured way the kid ripped off some 20 determined moves with a minute on his clock.
Two weeks later I witnessed another incredible blitz session at the Chess & Checker House of New York, infamously known as “The Flea House.” It was one in the morning. A huge crowd was watching a five-minute series between Mike Valvo, then a very strong speed player, and the same kid who earlier had destroyed the park master. The kid, Walter Browne as I soon found out, more than held his own, several times rattling off a barrage of precise, tough-to-find sequences. A month or so after that, having now learned his name, I had the pleasure of being vanquished by Walter Browne twice the same week: once in the Marshall Chess Club Tuesday Night Rapids and three days later in the Manhattan Chess Club Friday Night Rapids. He was very talented, very strong, and very cocky.
Over the course of his extremely accomplished life, Walter easily made many friends who sincerely cared for him. We were friends in the early years, and of course I always admired his wonderful ability and achievements. We also had some things in common. We both grew up in Brooklyn, and we had gone to rival high schools. Walter went to Erasmus, Fischer’s school and Barbra Streisand’s. I went to New Utrecht, comedian Buddy Hackett’s school. Naturally, we both idolized Bobby Fischer. Even our Brooklyn accents were in harmony with Fischer’s, though Walter’s was more in tune than mine. At times, it sounded as if he were trying to mimic Bobby’s haltering speech pattern.
I was able to experience this similitude through the years in various conversations, sometimes in the wee morning hours. On several occasions I questioned Walter about what appeared to be an over-the-top way of living. I particularly wondered how he could stay up so late, night after night, and perform at such demanding levels in chess, backgammon, poker, Scrabble, pool, and other challenging activities. Once I pushed his buttons perhaps too much, asking what he expected to be doing at 65. Tongue in cheek, he made it clear that at 65 he envisioned a dance on my grave.
An example of the apparent strain Walter regularly went through was evident from the 1970 National Open in Reno. It had been a long day. After the sixth round, unable to go to sleep, I found myself in the casino at 2 a.m. There was Walter, playing poker. I tried to go back to sleep, and dozed for a few hours. At 7 a.m. I went down for some coffee. There was Walter, analyzing chess on a pocket set. He hadn’t been to sleep yet, though he was buzzing and blooming. Later that day Walter finished tied for third and fourth in the eight-round Swiss, which was won by Evans and Bisguier. But hours after the competition had ended, it hadn’t yet finished for Walter. At around midnight, I dropped by Ken Smith’s room, figuring he’d still be up. There was Walter, playing Scrabble. By my estimate, he had been competing, with possibly short breaks, for 40 hours straight.
Walter Browne loved chess, and he became a grandmaster and champion at it. Walter Browne loved games, and he conquered a bunch of them. Walter Browne truly loved being alive, and he perfected a lifestyle. He once said that the most important thing is “to do what you want to do.” In a life well lived, that’s exactly what he did.
GAME SECTION: SIX TREASURES FROM SIX-TIME Introductions and annotations by Bruce Pandolfini. Annotations in quotes by Walter Browne, from his book The Stress of Chess.
KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE, SÄMISCH PANNO (E80) GM Walter S. Browne (2560) Elliott Winslow (2255) Paul Masson (1), USA, 1977
A nice and simple game. Browne stresses straightforward development and pushes his attack. Having castled on the opposite wing, he plays to open the kingside in classic fashion. Browne’s final five moves are all fireworks. They bring to mind Fischer’s familiar advice: “sac, sac, and mate!”
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 Nc6 6. Nge2 Rb8 7. Be3 0-0 8. Qd2 Re8 9. h4 h5 10. 0-0-0 a6 11. Bh6 Bh8 12. g4 e5 13. Bg5 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 exd4 15. Nd5 hxg4 16. h5 c6?
36 October 2015 | Chess Life
17. hxg6! cxd5 18. Rxh8+ Kxh8 19. Qh2+ Kg8 20. g7!!, Black resigned.
(see diagram next column)
If 20. ... Kxg7, then 21. Qh6+ Kg8 22. Bxf6 does the trick.
(see next game, next page)
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