Polland’s name appears frequently in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle chess columns of the 1930s as having been particularly successful in speed tournaments in New York City. His major success was probably his first place in the US Open in Chicago in 1937.
Beyond that little is known. Two birth dates are given. Wikipedia says he was born in 1915 while on chessgamesdotcom his birthday is listed as being June 24, 1908. I believe the 1908 date is likely correct because there was an article in the January 25, 1926 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle stating he was attending City College of New York, so the 1908 birth date would have made him 18 years old at the time. He was also a member of the I.L. Rice Progressive Chess Club of Manhattan.
An interesting post appeared in the Actuarial Outpost forums in 2008 by someone who told of playing an "elderly gentleman" (whom the poster said was, by 2008, long deceased) back in the 1960s who was taking on all comers in the park outside his parents apartment building.
The poster stated that over the next two years he played about 20 games against the old gentleman and only beat him once. The man was David Polland.
The poster went on to say that Polland demonstrated a King-Bishop-Knight mate blindfolded without knowledge of opponents exact King move (just whether it was a check or not). Also, according to the poster, Polland was once the 3rd ranked checker player in the world, but I was unable to verify this.
Polland's favorite opening was the English and as mentioned, he shined in rapid play; in one first place finish in a Marshall Chess Club rapid tournament he even defeated Reshevsky, himself a powerful blitz player. On another occasion he held Reshevsky to a draw in a simultaneous.
In following game from the 1940 US Championship Pollard's handling of the opening was weird, but it worked and he was awarded a brilliancy prize for his efforts. Hanauer found his pieces on the Q-side undeveloped and when his pieces in the center were driven off it allowed Polland to begin a sacrificial K-side attack. The attack should not have been decisive, but it was when Hanauer accepted the piece.
Milton Hanauer–David Polland0–1C78US Championship, New YorkNew York, NY USA06.05.1940Stockfish 17
C78: Ruy Lopez: Archangelsk 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.a4 f6 5.0-0 b5 The Archangel Defense. It was invented by Soviet theoreticians in the city of Arkhangelsk and often leads to sharp positions in which black wagers that the fianchettoed Bs influence on the center and K-side will offset his delay in castling. 6.b3 d6 Black has several options here. In order of popularity they are: 6...Be7, 6...Bc5 and 6...Bb7. Polland’s move is rare, but by no means inferior. 6...b7 This move Is quite interesting. Black defines the position of this B early in order to exert pressure against the opponent's center, in particular the e4 square. White must decide whether he protects the P with 7.d3 or goes for the unfathomable complications after 7.c3 Nxe4. 7.c3 xe4 8.d4 exd4 9.e1 d5 10.g5 with equal chances. 7.g5 White’s other options are to attempt to build an ideal P-center with c3 and d4 or to defend the e-Pawn with Re1. The defense chosen by Polland is tactically justified by the ability to meet this move with 7... d5 and white will be unable to demonstrate any advantage. d5 7...g4 Thus move is disaterous to black. 8.xf7+ e7 9.f3 d7 10.b3 with a huge advantage. 8.exd5 d4 9.e1 c5 9...d6 10.d3 g4 11.f3 h5 12.c4 0-0 13.e3 d7 14.e4 White is slightly better. Shankovsky,A (2327)-Durnev,V (2077) Lvov UKR 2010 10.xe5+ f8 Even though he cannot castle and his R is hemmed in black's position is preferable because of the activity of his pieces. 11.h3 White wants to guard g4, but this move allows his opponent to gain a significant advantage. 11.c3 is probably his best chance. After xb3 12.xb3 xf2+ 13.h1 13.xf2 g4+ with a decisive advabtage. 13...g4 both sides have their chances in the complications. 11...d7 12.e4 12.xf7 turns out to be no better. f6 13.e3 xf7 14.c3 xb3 15.f3 f6 16.axb3 xd5 Black is nuch better. Deshmukh,A (2335)-Peng Xiaomin (2624) Calcutta 2000 12...xb3 Polland has made a serious miscalculation. He is attacki g two Rs, but white gets away unscathed. 12...xe5 wins! 13.d3 e7 14.e3 xb3 15.axb3 f5 Black is a R up. 13.axb3 xe5 14.xc5 his is the move Polland missed; white has suffucuent compensation for the R. xd5 White must now prevent ...Bxh3. 15.d4 xh3 Best, but only for the purpose of keeping the chances equal! 16.gxh3 Hanauer falls head first into a lost position. 16.f3 leaves black without any way of gaining an advantage, f5 17.c3 c6 18.b4 g6 16...f3+ 17.f1 xd4 Threatening ...Qh1# 18.f3 xc5 19.e3 f5 19...d8 would have decided the game at once. For example... 20.xa6 xc2 21.xc2 xc2 and white is lost. 20.xd4 xh3+ 21.g1 21.f2 loses h2+ 22.f1 22.e3 e8+ 23.d3 d8 24.e3 h6+ 25.e2 d6 26.c3 c5 22...h1+ 23.g1 h5 21...g3+ 22.f1 h3+ 23.g1 h5 24.e3 A gross blunder which his opponent fails to take advantage of. 24.f1 The Q comes to the K's defense and makes it much more difficult for black to make progress. g3+ 25.g2 e1+ 26.f1 e8 27.c3 g3+ 28.g2 e1+ 29.xe1 xe1+ 30.f1 xf1+ 31.xf1 and even though black is better the win is not a sure thing. 24...g8 25.d2 e8 26.f4 e6 Adding the R to the attack looks good, but as often happens, when we have an idea in mind we fail to notice anything else. In this case Hanauer’s last move gave black the chance to win a piece. 26...h4 Attacking the B. 27.h2 h6 Finally getting the R into play 28.f1 g6+ 29.h1 h3 Threatening ...Rg2 30.g3 xg3 31.f1 xf3 27.e4 Suddenly white has gotten sufficient defensive resources and black;s advantage has all but disappeared g6+ 28.f2! g2+ 29.e3 e6 Threatening ... f5, but white's K is safe enough. 30.d8+ well, it would have been had white played 20.Qh1! which appears to be a rather odd place for the Q, so it's easy to see how Hanauer missed it! 30.h1 xc2 31.d1 Black has to guard his h-Pawn. g6 31...xb2 32.d8+ h7 33.xh5+ h6 34.g5# 32.d5 f5 33.h4 f7 uddenly it's black who is fending off threats. 33...fxe4 34.d8+ f7 35.d7+ and white wins. 34.e5 Black only has one move that avoids loss... fxe4 35.d7+ xd7 35...f8 36.d8+ mates 36.f6+ e8 37.xh8+ e7 38.f6+ draws 30...h7 31.xc7 f5 White doesn;t get any more chances as Polland finishes him off in an efficient fashion. 32.h1 e8 33.xh5+ g6 34.h2 xh2 35.xh2 fxe4 Black now has a prosaic win. 36.g3+ h5 37.xg7 exf3+ 38.f4 e3+ Black mates in 4 39.g3 f2+ 40.g2 f3+! 41.xf3 f1+ 42.g3 e3# An imaginative game by Polland. 0–1
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