We are pleased today to present a victory in the fifth round of the US Chess League from the match between the Philadelphia Inventors and the Boston Blitz, won by Boston, 2.5-1.5. William Fisher (White) vs. Kazim Gulamali (Black), was a clever win for Gulamili. To score the point Gulamali used the damned Dutch defense. Pardon the epithet, but this defense creates a stonewall and is one of the most irritating for White to play against. No wonder that Mikhail Botvinnik, the paragon of positional players, was fond of it.

White’s problem against the Dutch is his king’s bishop, which can easily be buried. Here, Fisher dealt with this hardship by putting the bishop on the b2 square on the queen side. Nevertheless, White’s development turned out to be lackadaisical and his pieces found themselves in a coffin before their time. Unable to break the confinement, Fisher moved his king back and forth, awaiting an onslaught. It arrived. Black found a difficult pawn move, which looked like a sacrifice but in fact unlocked his queen’s knight and forced resignation.