Nicolaas Cortlever

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Nicolaas (Nico) Cortlever (1915–1995) was a Dutch chess master from Amsterdam. He was one of the Netherlands’ top players in the mid-20th century and represented his country in several Chess Olympiads.

Early career
- 1936: Tied for 7th–8th at Rotterdam in the 10th Dutch Championship.
- 1938: In Amsterdam, finished 2nd in the Dutch Championship behind Max Euwe.
- 1939: Won the Hoogovens Beverwijk tournament (Quadrangular) and had strong showings in Amsterdam’s events that year.

World War II period
- 1940: Beverwijk Quadrangular tied for 2nd–3rd; Beverwijk also hosted a Beverwijk/Leeuwarden series where Cortlever shared 1st place in Leeuwarden with Salo Landau and Lodewijk Prins.
- 1941: Beverwijk Quadrangular finished 2nd; Munich Europaturnier (the second Europaturnier) was won by Gösta Stoltz and Cortlever finished in the mid pack (14th–15th).

Postwar career
- 1946: Beverwijk 4th; Zaandam tied for 2nd–3rd.
- 1947: Beverwijk 2nd.
- 1948: Beverwijk 8th–9th.
- 1950: Beverwijk 4th; Amsterdam 4th (15th Dutch Championship won by Euwe).
- 1952: Enschede tied for 7th–9th (16th Dutch Championship won by Euwe).
- 1953: Beverwijk tied for 9th–10th.
- 1954: Amsterdam tied for 2nd–3rd (17th Dutch Championship won by Donner).
- 1958: Amsterdam 2nd behind Donner.

Olympiads and title
- Cortlever played for the Netherlands in the Chess Olympiads of 1936 (Munich, 8th board), 1939 (Buenos Aires, 2nd board), 1950 (Dubrovnik, 4th board), 1952 (Helsinki, 4th board), and 1954 (Amsterdam, 3rd board).
- He won an individual silver medal at Dubrovnik in 1950.
- Cortlever was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1950.