Yes I think the a-rook was moved to help control the half-open d-file and it was moved because the f-rook could support a possible f4 push in the future. The a-rook was doing nothing on a1 so it was developed to a better position on d1

Ok, heres what I think...

THe first 6 moves are all theory but I'm not really familiar with the opening. I played g6 and Bg7 because I often play the sicilian dragon and Kings Indian Defence and so this position was at least a bit familiar to me.

According to the comp analysis, 7.h3 is fine but it looked strange to me. With your Bishop and queen on e2 and d1 respectively, im not in a position to play Ng4 or Bg4 anytime soon so. Also, with h3 played, black can sometimes play Bxh3 in future to open up the kings cover (assuming white castled king-side) This is a common theme in KID games anyway.

After you played 10.Qd2 I thought you would play 11.Bh6 to trade off my dark bishop to weaken the dark squares around my king so thats why I played 10.Re8 so 11.Bh6 could be met with 11...Bh8 when I stay on the long diagonal.

11.Nf5 was a blunder. Maybe when you play this opening, black hasn't played g6 and so that pawn is still on g7, and not covering the f5 square? I saw that my kings cover was disrupted after 11...gxf5 but my bishops are close by to help defend.

After 13.Nd5 I could have played 13...Nxd5 14.Qxd5 Bxc2 and won a pawn (I actually didn't see this in the game!) But I would have still played e6 I think because it forces the knight to move again and also opens up the dark squares for my queen to recapture on f6. I liked my queen on this square so she could help with any possible attacks. Im a piece up at this stage so I want to play safe and simple.. and boring if I have to!

You spotted the attempted pin with 16...Qg6 and played 17.Kh2. I decided to trade off the bishops with 17...Be5+ because it simplifies the position and also you had played c3 earlier which limited the scope of my dark bishop.

I played 19...Kh8 with the intention of playing 20...Rg8 (which happened)

22...Qxg3+ was played to simplify again and also I couldn't see a mate coming any time soon because you got your rooks back to defend. Since there was no mate coming, I felt more comfortable with the queens off.

I played 23...Bf4 to defend the pawn and I thought it would be better than 23...Rad8 24.Bf3 Be6 when my pieces are a little passive. I didnt want you getting any counter-play! But after 24.Bf3 I didn't want to play Bxf3 because it undoubled your pawns so I played f5 to advance that pawn and gain space also. It also supports the e4 pawn after 25...dxe4. Since the e4 pawn is passed I wanted to make him safe for the time being and the pawn is the best defender. 

I played 26...Raf8 instead of 26...Rgf8 because after 27.Rd7 I d have to play Rab8 and my two rooks are defending 2 pawns. My using the a rook (which wasn't doing anything on a8 anyway), I was able to play 27...Rg7 to defend the b7 pawn. Notice the king is close enough to make this move possible which wouldn't be the case after 26...Rgf8.

Even though the game was lost for you by this point, you should have kept the rooks on and not played 28.Rxg7 because you have far less chance of creating mischief with 1 rook than with 2 rooks. It also brings my king closer by one square after 28...Kxg7. Maybe 28.Rfd1 when 28...Rxd7 29.Rxd7 Rb8 and you have my rook in a bad position and my King is stuck on the 8th rank with the h-pawn.

I played 30...Rxf4 again in the hope that you'd trade rooks, which is what happened. Maybe I should have played exf4 instead to bring the pawns side by side again. Again, you should have tried to keep the rooks on.

32...h5 and 33...h4 were designed to stop you trying g3 at any point, trying to break up my e and f pawns. The comp analysis says this was a mistake and I should have been trying to play e3 but as I said before, I just wanted to take no chances and play safe instead. I was also thinking about b5 at this point to stop you queen-side pawns trying anything but 34.a4 put me off this idea.

After 42...bxa6, the comp gives 42... bxa6 43. c4 Nxc444. Kf1 Kd3 45. Kg1 e2 46. Kh2 e1=Q 47. g4hxg3+ 48. Kg2 Nd2 49. h4 Qf1#

In the final position, your in a kind of Zugswang (spelling?) in that any move by white just makes his position worse.

So to summarise:

1. Retain strong bishops on g7
2. Keep a much material on the board if yer losing
3. If yer winning, trade as much as possible (but not two many pawns!) and play safe and boring

So what ya think? I'd like to hear your thoughts too Jim. and any one else who has thoughts or suggestions, please share. This was a learning exercise after all 

This was at move 11.   To Pskogi--I have no idea.  Blunder.  I must have seen what I wanted to see and not reality.

I looked at the computer analysis which is normally tactful, for a stroke: however it was just as blunt:

(-3.34) BLUNDER - Oops! That was a serious blunder. From equal to losing in a flash. Best was 11. Rfd1

Question:  Is the logic of Rfd1 to take advantage of the half-open file?   Why not the other rook to d1

Hello, why did you give up your knight for nothing?

Computer Analysis (~2500 strength)

Inaccuracies: 4 = 12.1% of moves
Mistakes: 5 = 15.2% of moves
Blunders: 1 = 3.0% of moves

The logic of my second move is to reduce complexity (I always play it to reduce the amount I have to learn).  2 years ago I realized there 5 billion  combinations so I decided that for the Scilian I would play the closed version... not the best choice, but I am learning it.  I tend to like open positions better, but I figured I needed to play both.

My 3rd move follows the same line.  I pulled that move from games played and decided that if a 2200 could do it, so could I.  I find players >2000 handle knights differently than I would... so I copied and now am trying to play the rest of the game from here to see the value of this move.  I almost always end up with in on the other side of the board... not sure why that is good and it has caused me problems: I typically castle king side and sent the knight to the queen side.

Game Explorer link:

http://www.chess.com/explorer/index.html?id=4046&ply=5&black=0

Good idea!, i'll just put my thoughts here.. We could also get other peoples views if they see it.