My opponent is one of RHP's high volume fast turnaround players. We've played a few times and he has beaten me once where I, overconfident and a pawn up, missed a vital tactic and paid the price.

Carving out a stake in the forest and elbow room for later maneuvers

Formerly called the Queen Pawn Counter Gambit, now the Elephant Gambit. Black offers a pawn so as to develop unimpeded by having to have a pawn on d6 and to gain a move while white captures the pawn. The risk is that White builds a dominant centre, consolidates and wins with an extra pawn.

White does not buy into Black's view of reality and opens the centre for himself

forcing White's hand by attacking the knight

White establishes his knight in the centre

challenging the centralised knight

Sensible if restrained, keeping Black's route to glory - the e file - blocked and preparing access to the stockade. (See the quoted forum thread for Greenpawn's rant about this move and where bishops should be in double King Pawn openings)

Protecting e4

There was no necessity for this capture at this stage which wastes a move