Confessions of a beginner looking for an opening repertoire.

Lonnie, thanks for taking the time to do the analysis on my game.  Much appreciated.  It was a close call whether I posted the game here or in the Game Analysis forum.  I chose here to give readers a feeling on where I'm at in playing style and skill level as context for any advice.

Yeah, I noticed too that it was a Pirc after 5.e4 with white behind a move.  Game searches on that position showed Pirc games with white having the next move, rather than black :).  I forgot about that later as I was merrily playing out of the Gallagher play book for KID, white plays 5.Bd3, even though in this game it was white plays 3.Bd3.   7...Nh5!? followed by pushing the f-pawn rather than 7...e5 followed by later move the night off the f-file and possible push the f-pawn.  It was a tough choice for me to play 7...Nh5!? too, but I wanted to experience it and it worked out well for me.  I didn't realize at move 7 how important a later ...Nf4 would be.  So, in all the excitement, and following a KID game plan, I forgot it wasn't really a KID.  Guess I was trying to force it :).  Thanks for the comment about the pawn on c4 being required for KID.  I'm aware that typically the three white pawns out front are shifted over one for the KID (c,d,e) vs Pirc (d,e,f) but hadn't internalized that the pawn on c4 was a key distinguisher for the KID.

Thanks especially for the comments about my attack, and 17...Nxf4 being stronger than 17...Rxf4, and the possibilities for black and white following the better 17...Nxf4.   That helps a lot.  As I alluded, mating attack is a weak area for me, one I've been working hard on in just the last few weeks.  I spent hours working on various attacking combinations for this game.  I smelled blood right after 9...Bxe5 with both my bishops having a clear shot at the fortress, along adjacent diagonals, and good chances to get my knight and queen involved too, but never found an entirely forced way to make the kill, until my opponent made mistakes.  Very exciting stuff though.  As also alluded, it made me think of the Colle-Zukertort as a way to improve on attacking tactics early in the middle game.

I would have been nervous to see 21.Ne6.  Fearing white's passed pawn on e6 after 21...Bxe6 22.dxe6, and the pain it might cause to deal with it.  Had 21.Ne6 occurred I would have looked hard at 21...Bxe6 as I wanted that knight gone.  Your comment tells me it works.  I just have to look at it some more.

Thank again,
Paul

CJBas, thanks.  Yes it does :).  I played a live chess game a couple months ago (KIA as white) where I tried an early attack on the king, only to fail and die in the counter attack.  People deal with failure differently.  It usually sets in me a strong, sometimes latent, determination to succeed.  So, yeah, it felt good.  But I also realize that on a scale of 1 to 10 in attacking ability I've probably advanced from about a 1 to a 3, and that's an optimistic assessment, so I have a lot of work to do.