Adolf Georg Olland was the leading Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 master in the time before Max Euwe

Max Euwe

Machgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...

. Born in Utrecht

Utrecht (city)

Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

, he was a medical doctor.

Olland took 3rd at Amsterdam 1887 (Dirk van Foreest

Dirk van Foreest

Jhr. Dirk van Foreest was a Dutch chess master.Elder brother of Arnold van Foreest, he thrice won Dutch Championship in 1885, 1886, and 1887. He also took fifth place at Gouda 1884 , and took second place, behind Rudolf Loman, at Rotterdam 1888 .-References:...

 won); shared 1st at Amsterdam 1889 (Hauptturnier); took 2nd, behind Rudolf Loman

Rudolf Loman

Rudolf Loman was a Dutch chess master.Loman had been living in London for a number of years. He played chess for money against rich Englishmen, like his Dutch pupil Jacques Davidson, though he had another profession, organ player...

, at Utrecht 1891; took 5th at Groningen 1893 (Loman won); took 2nd, behind Loman, at Rotterdam 1894; shared 1st at Arnheim 1895; took 2nd at Amsterdam 1899 behind Henry Ernest Atkins

Henry Ernest Atkins

Henry Ernest Atkins was a British chess master who is best known for his unparalleled record of winning the British Chess Championship nine times in eleven attempts. He won every year from 1905 to 1911, and again in 1924 and 1925...

; took 2nd, behind Rudolf Swiderski

Rudolf Swiderski

Rudolf Swiderski was a German chess master.He took 6th at Eisenach 1896 , took 2nd at Annaberg 1897, tied for 7-8th at Berlin 1897, and tied for 3-6th in Amsterdam. He made his mark in 1900 when he won 1st place at the Munich Hauptturnier...

, at Munich 1900 (12th DSB–Congress, Hauptturnier).

Olland won at Haarlem 1901; took 8th at Hannover 1902 (13th DSB–Congress, Dawid Janowski

Dawid Janowski

Dawid Markelowicz Janowski was a leading Polish chess master and subsequent French citizen....

 won); took 19th at Carlsbad 1907 (Akiba Rubinstein

Akiba Rubinstein

Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein was a famous Polish chess Grandmaster at the beginning of the 20th century. He was scheduled to play a match with Emanuel Lasker for the world championship in 1914, but it was cancelled because of the outbreak of World War I...

 won). He shared 1st with Abraham Speijer

Abraham Speijer

Abraham Speijer was a Dutch chess master.Speijer tied for 1st with Adolf Olland in the 1st Dutch Chess Championship at Leiden 1909, although Olland was recognized as the Champion....

 at Leiden 1909 (1st NED-ch

Dutch Chess Championship

The Dutch Chess Championship was officially established in 1909, although unofficial champions stretch back to the 1870s.-Early years:-Official championships:...

); took 4th at Stockholm 1912 (8th Nordic-ch

Nordic Chess Championship

The first Nordic Chess Championship took place in Stockholm in 1897.-Winners:The winners in the Nordic Championship in 1934 and 1936, Aron Nimzowitsch and Erik Lundin, got the Nordiske kongresmestre title, as the champion 1930, Erik Andersen, defended his title with 3-3 against Gideon Ståhlberg at...

, Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...

 won); took 3rd at Scheveningen 1913 (Alekhine won).

He tied for 7-8th at Hastings 1919 (Victory Congress, José Raúl Capablanca

José Raúl Capablanca

José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...

 won); tied for 14-15th at Göteborg (B tournament, Paul Johner

Paul Johner

Paul Johner was a Swiss chess master.A noted musician , elder brother of Hans Johner, he won the Swiss Championship in 1907 , 1908 , 1925, 1928 , 1930 and 1932 .He played in many international tournaments...

 won); took 3rd at Utrecht 1920 (Quadrangular, Géza Maróczy

Géza Maróczy

Géza Maróczy was a leading Hungarian chess Grandmaster, one of the best players in the world in his time. He was also a practicing engineer.-Early career:...

 won); tied for 3rd-4th at Nijmegen 1921 (5th NED-ch, Max Euwe

Max Euwe

Machgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...

 won); took 18th at Scheveningen 1923 (Paul Johner

Paul Johner

Paul Johner was a Swiss chess master.A noted musician , elder brother of Hans Johner, he won the Swiss Championship in 1907 , 1908 , 1925, 1928 , 1930 and 1932 .He played in many international tournaments...

 and Rudolf Spielmann

Rudolf Spielmann

Rudolf Spielmann was an Austrian-Jewish chess player of the romantic school, and chess writer.-Career:He was a lawyer but never worked as one....

 won); took 3rd at Utrecht 1927 (Quadrangular, Euwe won); took 7th at Amsterdam 1929 (8th NED-ch, Euwe won); took 8th at The Hague–Leiden 1933 (9th NED-ch, Euwe won).

Olland was very active in match play, competing in 29 matches, all except one in his home town Utrecht.
He defeated most Dutch players except Euwe who beat him twice, but lost to foreign masters such as Géza Maróczy

Géza Maróczy

Géza Maróczy was a leading Hungarian chess Grandmaster, one of the best players in the world in his time. He was also a practicing engineer.-Early career:...

, Richard Réti

Richard Réti

Réti composed one of the most famous chess studies, shown in this diagram. It was published in Ostrauer Morgenzeitung 4 December 1921. It seems impossible for the white king to catch the advanced black pawn, while the white pawn can be easily stopped by the black king...

, and Edgar Colle. Olland died of a heart attack playing in the 1933 Dutch Championship at The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

.

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