prufrock vs nhollyman on chess.com, game start: 26 August, 2016

Nice 7th move for White to bring my King out. Didn't see that coming...

1. e4 c5 2. Bc4 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qd1 Nf6 6. Nf3 Nxe4 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Qd5+ Be6 9. Qxe4 Qa5+ 10. Nc3 Qf5 11. Qe2 h6 12. b3 g5 13. Bb2 Bg7 14. O-O-O Qf6 15. h3 a6 16. Na4 Qg6 17. Rhe1 Bxb2+ 18. Nxb2 Qf6 19. Kb1 b5 20. h4 g4 21. Ng1 h5 22. f4 Bf5 23. g3 Rhc8 24. Qd2 Nb4 25. Rc1 Nxc2 26. Rxc2 Rxc2 27. Qd5+ e6 28. Qb7+ Rc7+ 29. Qe4 Bxe4+ 30. Rxe4 Qf5 White resigns

prufrockj vs nhollyman on chess.com

Time limit: 7 days per move. 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.h3 Bg7 5.Nf3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Qd2 Qe7 8.O-O-O b5 9.e5 Nfd7 10.Bg5 f6 11.exf6 Bxf6 12.Re1 Bxg5 13.Nxg5 Nb6 14.Nxe6 Bxe6 15.d5 O-O 16.dxe6 Nc6 17.Nd5 Nxd5 18.Qxd5 Na5 19.g4 c6 20.Qd2 Nb7 21.f4 d5 22.f5 Rf6 23.Qg5 Re8 24.h4 Kg7 25.Bd3 Nc5 26.h5 Nxd3+ 27.cxd3 h6 28.Qf4 Qc5+ 29.Kb1 g5 30.Rc1 gxf4 31.Rxc5 Rc8 32.Rf1 Rff8 33.Rxf4 Kf6 34.Rf1 Rc7 35.d4 Re8 36.b4 Ree7 37.Kc2 Rc8 38.Kb3 Rg7 39.Rg1 Ra7 40.a4 Rg7 41.Rc2 Ra7 42.a5 Rg7 43.Kc3 Rcg8 44.Rcg2 Kg5 45.Kd3 Rf8 46.Re2 Re7 47.Rf1 Kf6 48.Ke3 Kg5 49.Kf3 Rf6 50.Rc1 Rf8 51.Rxc6 Rg8 52.Re5 Kh4 53.f6 Rf8 54.Rf5 Ree8 55.Rc1 Rxe6 56.Rh1# 1-0

Boris Chessky vs litohmags on chess.com

Another lucky timeout. My current chess.com rating is based more on luck than skill.

I was going to resign at one point, but Mrs Chessky felt that I needed to play to the end to be taught a lesson. Ha!

Time limit: 10 days per move. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.b3 g6 4.Bb2 Bg7 5.e3 Nc6 6.d4 O-O 7.d5 Nb4 8.a3 Na6 9.Bd3 d6 10.Nbd2 Bd7 11.O-O e6 12.e4 exd5 13.exd5 Re8 14.Qc2 Nc7 15.Ng5 Nh5 16.Bxg7 Nxg7 17.f4 Nf5 18.Rf2 Nd4 19.Qd1 Qf6 20.Nde4 Qe7 21.Be2 h6 22.Bg4 hxg5 23.Bxd7 Qxe4 24.Bxe8 Rxe8 25.fxg5 Re5 26.b4 b6 27.Qa4 Ne2+ 28.Kh1 Qh4 29.Qb3 Qxf2 30.Qf3 Qxf3 31.gxf3 Rxg5 32.h4 Rh5 33.Re1 Ng3+ 34.Kg2 Nf5 35.bxc5 bxc5 36.Rh1 Rxh4 37.Rxh4 Nxh4+ 38.Kg3 Nf5+ 39.Kf4 Na8 40.Ke4 Nb6 41.Kd3 Nd4 42.f4 Kg7 43.Kc3 f5 44.Kd3 White wins by timeout

nhollyman vs patthatownie on chess.com, Game Start: 24 June 2014

Time limit: 7 days per move. 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 O-O 8.O-O Ng4 9.e3 d6 10.b3 Nxd4 11.exd4 Nh6 12.h3 Rb8 13.Bb2 Nf5 14.Ne2 Bd7 15.a4 Bc6 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.Rb1 e6 18.Ba3 a5 19.Qd3 e5 20.dxe5 dxe5 21.Qf3 Re8 22.Qxc6 Qd2 23.Rb2 Qd3 24.Nc1 Qd8 25.Qe4 Nd4 26.Re1 f5 27.Qe3 e4 28.Kg2 Nf3 29.Rh1 Bd4 30.Qh6 Bxb2 31.Bxb2 Qc7 32.Qe3 Rbd8 33.Qc3 Re5 34.Qe3 Rc5 35.Ba3 Rc6 36.Qc3 f4 37.Bb2 Nh4+ 38.Kh2 fxg3+ 39.fxg3 Rd2+ 40.Kg1 Rg2+ 41.Kf1 Qf7+ White Resigns

patthatownie vs nhollyman on chess.com, Game Start: 23 May 2014

Time limit: 7 days per move. 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Bg7 7. d4 cxd4 8. Qxd4 Nc6 9. Qh4 O-O 10. Bh6 e6 11. Bg5 h5 12. Ne4 d5 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Bxf6 Qd7 15. g4 Rfc8 16. gxh5 Kf8 17. hxg6 Ne7 18. g7+ Black Resigns

Boris Chessky vs frankrs on chess.com

Time limit: 14 days per move. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.d3 Nc6 5.Bd2 Bxc3 6.Bxc3 d6 7.Be2 b6 8.O-O Bb7 9.Qd2 Qe7 10.a3 Nd7 11.Qg5 f6 12.Qg3 O-O-O 13.b4 Rdg8 14.b5 Nd8 White timeout

A Ridiculous Chess Problem

A "ridiculously hard chess problem" that ChessNetwork was given on chess.com's Tactics Trainer.

Boris Chessky vs agussalim on Chess.com

Time limit: 14 days per move. 1. Nf3 d6 2. g3 Nf6 3. d4 e6 4. c4 c5 5. Bg2 cxd4 6. Nxd4 e5 7. Nb5 a6 8. Qa4 Bd7 9. Bxb7 Ra7 10. Bg2 Be7 11. Qa3 Bxb5 12. cxb5 O-O 13. Qe3 Rc7 14. Nc3 axb5 15. Nxb5 Rc5 16. a4 Ng4 17. Qf3 f5 18. b4 Rc2 19. Qb3+ Black Resigns

The Isolani

Hans Berliner states this about isolated pawns in The System, A World Champion's Approach to Chess:

The System detests isolated pawns, and you should too. It is not so much that isolated pawns have to be defended by pieces; it is much more that the squares in front of an isolani can no longer be attacked by a pawn. 

The System favours board control strategy, and when there are important squares that can no longer be controlled, the strategy has probably failed. Isolated pawns may be all right if they are passed; particularly if they are centre pawns and have advanced beyond the 4th rank. 

Isolated pawns are also not a serious disadvantage of they are a- or h- pawns because the squares in front of them are not very important. 

Side-by-side pawns on the 4th rank such as on d4 and e4, or c4 and d4 are very good. They control a significant part of the board, and as such are worth much more than they amount to individually.

Apparently IM Daniel Tapia eats chocolate isolanis for breakfast:

Castizo vs Boris Chessky on chess.com

I think I was lucky to get a timeout win on this one (although the time limit was 14 days, so a timeout is really like a resignation as far as I'm concerned).

Due to the opponent's low rating, I was a bit pushy with my pawns and careless of my King's safety, so things started to get somewhat... interesting.

Time limit: 14 days per move. 1.e4 c5 2.Bc4 e6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.c3 d6 5.O-O a6 6.a3 b5 7.Ba2 Nf6 8.d4 Nxe4 9.d5 Ne7 10.dxe6 Bxe6 11.Re1 d5 12.Nbd2 f5 13.Nxe4 fxe4 14.Ng5 Qb6 15.Be3 h6 16.Nxe6 Qxe6 17.Bxc5 O-O-O 18.b4 Nc6 19.Bb6 Rd7 20.Qb3 g5 Black wins by timeout

Boris Chessky vs issam4679 on chess.com

1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bd6 5. d4 O-O 6. c5 Be7 7. b4 a6 8. a4 Nc6 9. Ba3 b6 10. Bd3 Re8 11. Qe2 h6 12. O-O Nh7 13. Bxh7+ Kxh7 14. cxb6 cxb6 15. Na2 Bb7 16. Rac1 Bd6 17. Rc2 Qf6 18. b5 Nxd4 19. Nxd4 Bxa3 20. Qd3+ Qg6 21. Qxa3 e5 22. Rc7 Reb8 23. Nc6 Bxc6 24. Rxc6 Qe4 25. f3 Qh4 26. bxa6 Rxa6 27. Qd3+ Kg8 28. Qxa6

Boris Chessky vs ReasonWriter703 on Chess.com

Here's one of my recent games on chess.com that took almost five months to play with a two-week time limit for each move. It was an enjoyable game.

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 c5 5. b3 Bg4 6. Be2 Bg7 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bb2 O-O 9. a3 e5 10. Ne4 Nc6 11. Nxc5 b6 12. Ne4 Bf5 13. d3 Qe7 14. O-O Rad8 15. Qc2 Rc8 16. Rac1 Na5 17. Qd1 Qe6 18. Neg5 Qf6 19. Bxe5 Qe7 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Rxc8 Rxc8 22. b4 Nb7 23. Qa1+ Kg8 24. Rc1 Rxc1+ 25. Qxc1 Qf6 26. e4 Nc3 27. Bf1 Bg4 28. e5 Qc6 29. Qf4 Qd7 30. d4 Nd8 31. h3 Bf5 32. Nh4 Nc6 33. Nxf5 Nd5 34. Nh6+ Kg7 35. Qxf7+ Qxf7 36. Ngxf7 Nxd4 37. Bc4 Nf4 38. a4 Nc6 39. b5 Na5 40. e6 Kf8 41. Nd6 Ke7 42. Ng8+