Old Indian (4), how not to play chess

Today’s blog entry is from round 4 of the chess club’s current tournament. My mistakes cover the opening, middlegame and endgame. My opponent was rated well below me and I tried not to take him lightly. 

Carelessness in the opening resulted in the loss of a pawn and a destroyed Q-side pawn structure. I tried to kick White’s Queen from my territory. Instead I should have ignored it and played on the K-side where his Queen would be out of play. When playing from behind, create complications.

In the middlegame, White traded Knights to get a passed d-pawn, which now dominates the game. Later, I chose to keep the blockading Bishop instead of a Rook. I would have been better off losing the Bishop and the c-pawn it was guarding. I was worried about the safety of my Rook that was in enemy territory, but it could have been easily protected at b4.

The endgame provided an opportunity to salvage the game. By that time I was in a strictly defensive mode. An important lesson here is to keep looking for opportunities to salvage the game, not just defend. My play in this area is what most disappointed me about the game.

Two charts are provided below. The first is to magnify the opening. The second is to view the entire game.