Dr. A.G. Olland and Dr. Johannes Esser

Olland

     I would be surprised if any readers knew anything about these fellows, but Dr. Adolf Georg Olland (April 13, 1867 – July 22, 1933) was the leading Dutch master in the days before Max Euwe and his opponent, Johannes Fredericus Samuel Esser (October 13, 1877 - August 3, 1946), was a Dutch surgeon, chess player and art collector. Esser was Dutch champion in 1913 and a whole lot more.
     Dr. Olland, a medical doctor, was born in Utrecht and such was his fame throughout Holland that if someone said they were from Utrecht, the replay was, “Ah yes, the home of Dr, Olland!” 
     Beginning with Amsterdam 1887 where he finished 3rd, Olland performed well in Dutch and German events and had some good successes, and a few failures, in international events. 
     Olland was also 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 Geza Maroczy, Richard Réti, and Edgar Colle. 
     Chessmetrics estimates his highest ever rating at 2609 in 1902. This put him in a group that included such players as Teichmann, Mieses, Atkins, Wolf, Marco, Napier, Gunsberg, Marshall and Blackburne. Olland died of a heart attack playing in the 1933 Dutch Championship at The Hague. 

Esser

     Esser and his sister Elisabeth were largely raised by the neighbor, milk trader Leen Spruyt. Esser married Olga Hazelhoff Roelfzema (1889-1924) in 1912. They had two daughters (Elisabeth and Carla) and a son (Maarten). Olga died in 1924. Five years later, Esser remarried Aleida de Koning, with whom he had four daughters: Rocquereyne, Boduina, Annie and Olga. 
     From 1897, Esser studied arts at the University of Leiden. During his medical studies he helped his sister with her dental studies, after which he also passed the exam to be a dentist. 
     He initially established himself as a general practitioner. In 1913 he quit his general practice and went to study general surgery at the University of Utrecht. He specialized in maxillo-facial surgery, a specialization that deals with very serious congenital and inflicted facial deformities. Repairing the face by applying a skin transplant later became his specialty. After gaining practical experience in various Rotterdam hospitals, he left for Paris to further train there. 
     He also attended a crash course in war surgery in Paris. After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, he tried to become a war surgeon with the British and the French, but they rejected him. After having worked in the Netherlands for some time (including as a dentist) he became a war surgeon at the front in Brno, Czech Republic in 1915. 
     In the following years he worked successively in Vienna , Budapest and Berlin. He specialized in prosthesis for a facial reconstruction with cheekbone, eye and glasses from 1920 and 1921. Esser treated thousands of war wounded people who were put away in camps because of their horrific mutilations. 
     The basis of plastic and reconstructive surgery was laid in the First World War and at the time, Esser was considered a great expert in this field. He is seen as the founder of this branch of surgery in Holland. For a history of cosmetic surgery post-World War I you can visit:Warning: graphic content
Innovative Cosmetic Surgery...WWI
The Rebuilt Faces of War

     After the war he had a private practice in Berlin for a number of years, but due to a tax issue he moved back to the Netherlands in 1924. Because he had not completed his education in the Netherlands, he could not get a job as a surgeon and so he went into business and art. 
     In the following years he tried to realize an idealistic plan, the Surgical Free State. It was to be a small independent area where one could engage in plastic surgery. To realize this plan, he traveled half-way across Europe and eventually ended up in the United States. 
     Due to unfortunate stock market speculation, he lost all his money at once. To provide for his existence, he then toured the U.S. giving lectures of all kinds. He also started his memoirs. In the meantime, he was physically and mentally deteriorating and shortly after the Second World War he died of a heart problem. 
      Esser earned to play chess while still in his youth and in 1896 he played simultaneous exhibitions in Delft and in 1910 he beat David Janowski in Paris by a score of 2.5-0.5. 
     In 1909 and in 1912, Esser participated in the Dutch Championship and in 1912 he finished second  In 1913 , he beat the then Dutch champion Rudolf Loman in a match for the title with 3.5-0.5, after which he was allowed to call himself Dutch champion. Esser served as chairman of the Schaakbond in the period 1908-1909. 
     His best historical Elo rating was 2570, in September 1913. Esser was also a large art collector, who collected work by George Breitner, Leo Gestel, Piet van der Hem, Isaac Israels, Piet Mondriaan and Jan Sluijters, among others. An overview exhibition of his collection was held in the Singer museum in Laren from December 2005 to April 2006. For more details on Esser’s accomplishments visit HERE. 

Play Online Chess

[Event "DCA Congress "]
[Site "Haarlem NED"]
[Date "1901.7.29"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Dr. Adolf Olland"]
[Black "Dr. Johannes Esser"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {The Berlin Defense
was played by Arthur Bisguier played the Berlin for decades before it became
popular, but always chose the variation 4.0-0 Nxe4. Ever since Vladimir
Kramnik successfully used the line as a drawing weapon against Garry Kasparov
in their 2000 World Chess Championship match, the Berlin has experienced a
remarkable renaissance: even players with a dynamic style such as Alexei
Shirov, Veselin Topalov, and Kasparov himself have tried it, and Magnus
Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand both used it.} 4. O-O Nxe4 {This solid move is
the one Bisguier always chose and is the main line. More combative is
4...Bc5.} 5. d4 Be7 {Nowadays 5...Nd6 is almost always played.} 6. Qe2 f5
{This is risky. Solid is 6...Nd6.} 7. d5 {The best move is 7.dxe5 as played in
the game Marco-Leonhardt, Ostende 1905 and John-Leonhardt, Barmen 1905.In more
modern times it was played in Petrushin-Lutikov, Beltsy 1977.} 7... Nd4 8.
Nxd4 exd4 9. Nd2 Nd6 10. Nf3 c5 {This should have all but lost and is worth
two question marks! After the correct 11.Re1! black can't castle so his best
bet is to try 11... Kf7 hoping to play ...Re8, but after 12.Ne5+ black is
nearly lost.} 11. Bf4 { Not a good decision, because now the opponent is right
back in the game says Fritz in its commentary.} 11... O-O 12. Bd3 {With his
next move white loses the upper hand. After 12.Rfe1 threatening to take the B
12...Ne4 (not 12...Re8 13. Bxd6) 13.d6! Bxd6 14.Qc4+ Kh8 15.Bxd5 and 16.Qxc5
leaves white in the driver's seat.} 12... Re8 13. Rfe1 {Techincally, according
to the engines black is equal here, but practically he is in a very difficult
situation because his pieces can't move and one slip is likely to be fatal.}
13... Bf6 {With his next move Olland plays with fire. Instead os a safe
retreat like 14.Qd1 he decides to go down a slippery slope.} 14. Bxd6 {Gives
the opponent new chances, says Fritz.} 14... Rxe2 15. Rxe2 {Both sides now
play the next few move inaccurately. Black should now play 15...b6 and ...Bb7
with the better chances. Instead he allows his K to get driven to a
vulnerable location.} 15... Qb6 16. Re8+ Kf7 17. Rf8+ Kg6 {White should now
have played 18.Bf4 and 19.Re1 with excellent chances.} 18. Ne5+ Bxe5 19. Bxe5
{White has attacking chances against black's K, but black's defensive chances
should be sufficient. More forceful looking was 19.Bxf5+, but even then black
comes out unscathed.} 19... d6 20. Bf4 {White has a king attack} 20... Qxb2
21. Re1 c4 {Nice. It is also a trap.} 22. Bxc4 {This is worth a handful of
question marks as it should have lost. Correct was 22.Bf1. Black's next move
is also worth a lot of question marks because of the obvious 22...Qb4
attacking both the R and B. Note however that after 23.Re7! in order to
establish a clear win black needs to capture the B on f4 which he can do by
23. ..d3!! This is a resource that is hard to see over the board and so the
players can be excused for missing it.} 22... b5 {After this white subjects
black's K to a winnign attack.} 23. Bd3 Qxa2 24. g4 Qxd5 25. gxf5+ {Good
enough, but even more forceful, just not as colorful, was 25.Ree8,} 25... Kh5
26. Be4 Bxf5 27. Rxf5+ Qxf5 28. Bxf5 Rf8 29. Bd3 Rxf4 30. Re7 {Things have
settled down and as it has turned out, white's R is too well placed and
black's Ps too weak for black to have any chances of saving the game.} 30...
Rg4+ 31. Kf1 Rg5 32. Rxa7 h6 33. Rd7 Kh4 34. Rxd6 Kh3 35. Rxd4 Rc5 36. Rb4
{There's a mate in 22.} 36... g5 37. Rxb5 { The mate begins with 37.Kg1}
37... Rc6 38. Kg1 {In this hopeless situation black resigned.} 1-0