Johannes Jacob Burbach

Johannes Jacob Burbach (5.11.1921-15.11.2003)

Dutch chess composer and FIDE Master for chess composition

The chess problem composer Johannes Jacob Burbach (5 November 1921-15 November 2003) was the offspring of a Dutch family with a passion for chess: his parents introduced him to the game at an early age and his older brother brought him into contact with problem chess, to which he devoted himself for over 65 years. Over this long period, Burbach composed a total of 1315 chess problems, which he kept a detailed record of. After orthodox beginnings, he increasingly turned to fairytale chess; he developed the fairytale style of exclusive chess. Gerard Bouma (1923-2017), who was friends with Burbach for decades. 

In 2007 Gerard Bouma wrote a portrait of and homage to Johannes Jacob Burbach "Hans Burbach Schaakproblemist" from which the following can be quoted:
"But perhaps his greatest love was - almost to the last - the world of chess problems. In chess one can best recognize various facets of Hans's versatility: his originality, his sense of humor, his sometimes bizarre fantasy, his inventiveness, for instance the discovery of Exclusive Chess." Hans Burbach composed 1315 problems, which he meticulously registered and from which some were selected in the above article. He was also the editor of the magazine "Schaakmat" (1951-1954) and an international judge.