The match kicked of in blustery, sweeping rain, but despite the conditions, both sides tried to pass the ball and contributed to a good match.
The conditions almost led to the opening goal for Dundee as Steven Robb's fifth-minute free-kick caught the swirling wind and was swept towards the top left corner before Graham Smith rose to touch the ball behind with the outermost stitching on his gloves.
Kilmarnock settled better and Gordon Greer and Danny Invincibile combined well on the right wing. The pair created several early openings but too often the final ball ruined all the good work.
They got it right in the 18th minute when the opener followed a lovely flowing move. Invincibile was the architect and finisher as he picked the ball up from Greer and played it wide to Gary McDonald and sprinted into the box, where he was able to side foot the cross beyond Derek Soutar and in at the corner.
Killie's young keeper had to make another good save in the 24th minute as Jonay Hernandez, relieved to escape from his torrid left-back slot, accepted a short free-kick and hammered a right-foot shot which Smith could only parry, but Gary McDonald was on hand to complete the clearance.
The home side doubled their lead in the 38th minute only for Dundee to immediately reply. First Garry Hay floated over a free-kick for Simon Ford to out-jump his marker to register his first goal for Kilmarnock.
The home fans were still celebrating when Steve Lovell picked out John Sutton's run and sent over the perfect cross for him to power home a header from six yards.
Killie used the worsening conditions to their advantage at the start of the second half, playing intelligent passes that made life difficult for the Dark Blue defenders.
However, they passed up two golden chances to increase their lead in the first ten minutes of the half.
In the 51st minute, Peter Leven's free-kick was missed by the beleaguered defence and Colin Nish fired the ball across the six-yard line where Gary McDonald fired at the only part of the goal where the keeper could make a save, and Soutar duly cleared with his feet.
Three minutes later Garry Hay shot from thirty yards and Kris Boyd, without a goal since these teams met in October, flicked the ball over the top.
Boyd then slid another chance wide after excellent link-up play with Nish.
As a result of those misses, the home fans had to endure a nervy finale before they could cheer their side's first win since October, but Boyd made amends by firing under Soutar from 20 yards in the 82nd minute to settle the outcome.