Annotated chess game

Interesting how that works with reversed openings, whether the tempo is to the benefit of the first player or not. It serves the initiative aspirations with a reversed Grunfeld or certain reversed Sicilian lines, but the extra tempo in the Bird (1. f4) and the Reversed Alekhine (1. g3 e5 2. Nf3!?) aren't nearly as useful in that regard, compared to their flexible black counterparts, the Dutch and the Alekhine proper.

In the King's Indian Defence proper, the 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Bd3 variation has a long pedigree but oddly no name of its own. Yasser Seirewan essayed it a few times.

By Ng5 white gains the bishop pairs (or black loses a tempo retreating), then the other knight will have a tempo to move, freeing the bishop. I think this is a good move for black. But I would have waited to develop this bishop until my plans on the kingside were concrete, defending the pawn otherwise (say Ne7). So why the bishop?

7. c4 definitely seems preferred, as after 7. ...d4 8. Ne4 the black DSB cannot retreat to c7 because c5 hangs. After white trades off the enemy DSB for a knight the reversed Benoni Gambit possibilities become juicier. The decision of which strike towards the center varies quite a bit in efficacy depending on what setup the other player decides upon.

Very true! Which is why I intended to meet c4 with dxc4

Undoubtely  . No need for the bishop retreat in the previous line -nosferatu- too, I think...

I would think after 10. f5 Bxc4 is a good for black. 10. ...fxe5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Nf5 is ok for white

The other point to this move is more aggressively strategic. Black is well geared for Queen-side operations, and that ought to involve at some point the c-pawn.s advance to c4, striking at White's d-pawn. The b-pawn's advance supports the c-pawn, and nudging the knight gives an extra tempo to the attack.

Very true.... as I later played....

As well as ionadowman's considerations, 11. ...b5 also gains a protector to the e5 strongpoint with tempo without needing to displace anything. 11. Nf3?! was dubious and not attentuated to what black is strategically up to. I like charles' suggestion of 11. a4, to follow up with f5, g4, and king-side operations since black's pawn-levers have been clamped down on.

I would argee with nosferatu here in that what was the point of Nh4? Since white had played Nh4 he should have at least followed through with his plan of attacking f4. 10. ...fxe5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Nf5 white has something for the exchanges. It is risky to be sure but at least after the dust settles black's queenside is less of a threat.

I see Nf3 as a mistake, in the sense that black can well play exf4 now, and if white retakes with the bishop, black exchanges it, leaving the g column semi-open. The same happens if white takes with the pawn in the first place. Good or bad for white? I'm not able to tell. Another thing white could have tried instead of Nf3 is the queen's adventure 11. Qh5+, and if g6, Nxg6, Nxg6 13. f5, forking black's knight and bishop, and recovering the piece disrupting black's kingside. May be?

White fails to apply the rule "respond to flank attacks by attacking in the centre." Here 11. ...b5 is better met with 12. Ncxe5 fxe5 13. Ng5 bd7 14. f5! and everything is fine for white.

Isn't black just a piece for pawn up in this variation by elyhim?

It seems so. After black's Bd7, better seems to try the queen's adventure Qh5+ and see what happens (g6, Qh6...)

Of course, White's f-pawn served the same function for K-side operations...

Relieves tension and the fulcrum for white's king-side play. Pretty bad as far as positional moves go. White was probably hoping for 13. ...fe?! 14. Ng5 or something.

Now white has nothing for attacking opportunities

Black clearly dominates the board.

Bh3 looks interesting which seeks to take pressure off of c4.

I never like putting my queen on the same file as enemy rooks. His position is cramped by black's spatial advance and his DSB lacks good squares, and trading it off allows ...fxe5 with yet another tempo upon the white queen, or ...Nxe5 keeping the centralized post, this time for the knight, which also eyes d3.

I would have played Nxe5, followed up with Ra8-c8 and if he ever contests my knight on e5 with Nd2-f3 I have Ne5-g4 followed by Ng4-e3

I think Black had the better of it, but maybe this was a pawn sac with a view to opening lines and mobilising his centre-right majority...

No I could tell from my opponent's reaction that he didn't delibrately lose the pawn.

How quickly the thread of the game can slip away from a player. The old saw: As GM goes, so goes The Nation. Here, GM=counterplay, and the Nation=game.