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.
[Event "US Championship, New York"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1940.05.06"] [Round "?"] [White "Milton Hanauer"] [Black "David Polland"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C78"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "1940.??.??"] {C78: Ruy Lopez: Archangelsk} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O 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. Bb3 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... Bb7 {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 Nxe4 8. d4 exd4 9. Re1 d5 10. Ng5 {with equal chances.}) 7. Ng5 { 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... Bg4 {Thus move is disaterous to black.} 8. Bxf7+ Ke7 9. f3 Bd7 10. Bb3 {with a huge advantage.}) 8. exd5 Nd4 9. Re1 Bc5 (9... Bd6 10. d3 Bg4 11. f3 Bh5 12. c4 O-O 13. Be3 Nd7 14. Ne4 {White is slightly better. Shankovsky,A (2327)-Durnev,V (2077) Lvov UKR 2010}) 10. Rxe5+ Kf8 {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} Nxb3 12. Qxb3 Bxf2+ 13. Kh1 (13. Kxf2 Ng4+ {with a decisive advabtage.}) 13... Ng4 { both sides have their chances in the complications.}) 11... Nd7 12. Ne4 (12. Nxf7 {turns out to be no better.} Qf6 13. Re3 Qxf7 14. c3 Nxb3 15. Rf3 Nf6 16. axb3 Qxd5 {Black is nuch better. Deshmukh,A (2335)-Peng Xiaomin (2624) Calcutta 2000}) 12... Nxb3 {Polland has made a serious miscalculation. He is attacki g two Rs, but white gets away unscathed.} (12... Nxe5 {wins!} 13. d3 Be7 14. Be3 Nxb3 15. axb3 f5 {Black is a R up.}) 13. axb3 Nxe5 14. Nxc5 { his is the move Polland missed; white has suffucuent compensation for the R.} Qxd5 {White must now prevent ...Bxh3.} 15. d4 Bxh3 {Best, but only for the purpose of keeping the chances equal!} 16. gxh3 {[%mdl 8192] Hanauer falls head first into a lost position.} (16. f3 {leaves black without any way of gaining an advantage,} Bf5 17. Nc3 Qc6 18. b4 Ng6) 16... Nf3+ 17. Kf1 Nxd4 { Threatening ...Qh1#} 18. f3 Qxc5 19. Be3 Qf5 (19... Rd8 {would have decided the game at once. For example...} 20. Rxa6 Qxc2 21. Qxc2 Nxc2 {and white is lost.}) 20. Bxd4 Qxh3+ 21. Kg1 (21. Kf2 {loses} Qh2+ 22. Kf1 (22. Ke3 Re8+ 23. Kd3 Rd8 24. Ke3 Qh6+ 25. Ke2 Qd6 26. c3 c5) 22... Qh1+ 23. Bg1 h5) 21... Qg3+ 22. Kf1 Qh3+ 23. Kg1 h5 24. Be3 {[%mdl 8192] A gross blunder which his opponent fails to take advantage of.} (24. Qf1 {The Q comes to the K's defense and makes it much more difficult for black to make progress.} Qg3+ 25. Qg2 Qe1+ 26. Qf1 Re8 27. Nc3 Qg3+ 28. Qg2 Re1+ 29. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 30. Qf1 Qxf1+ 31. Kxf1 { and even though black is better the win is not a sure thing.}) 24... Kg8 25. Nd2 Re8 26. Bf4 Re6 {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... Qh4 { Attacking the B.} 27. Bh2 Rh6 {Finally getting the R into play} 28. Nf1 Rg6+ 29. Kh1 Qh3 {Threatening ...Rg2} 30. Ng3 Rxg3 31. Qf1 Rxf3) 27. Ne4 {Suddenly white has gotten sufficient defensive resources and black;s advantage has all but disappeared} Rg6+ 28. Kf2 $1 Rg2+ 29. Ke3 Qe6 {[%mdl 2048] Threatening ... f5, but white's K is safe enough.} 30. Qd8+ {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. Qh1 Rxc2 31. Rd1 {Black has to guard his h-Pawn.} g6 (31... Rxb2 32. Rd8+ Kh7 33. Qxh5+ Qh6 34. Ng5#) 32. Rd5 f5 33. Qh4 Kf7 {uddenly it's black who is fending off threats.} (33... fxe4 34. Qd8+ Kf7 35. Rd7+ {and white wins.}) 34. Be5 {Black only has one move that avoids loss...} fxe4 35. Rd7+ Qxd7 (35... Kf8 36. Qd8+ {mates}) 36. Qf6+ Ke8 37. Qxh8+ Ke7 38. Qf6+ {draws}) 30... Kh7 31. Qxc7 f5 {White doesn;t get any more chances as Polland finishes him off in an efficient fashion.} 32. Rh1 Re8 33. Rxh5+ Kg6 34. Rh2 Rxh2 35. Bxh2 fxe4 {[%mdl 4096] Black now has a prosaic win.} 36. Qg3+ Kh5 37. Qxg7 exf3+ 38. Kf4 Qe3+ {Black mates in 4} 39. Kg3 f2+ 40. Kg2 Qf3+ $1 {[%mdl 512]} 41. Kxf3 f1=Q+ 42. Kg3 Re3# {An imaginative game by Polland.} 0-1
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