According to the internet, d6 Brings Phillidor's defence. I fancied seeing what my opponent would do if I put him in check... Would he push a pawn, move his knight or bishop?

A bishop was moved to bring the king out of check. I didn't want to retreat my bishop and make a second move with a piece so decided to swap bishops. Another option might have been Nc3.

Simply allowing my bishop to be developed.

A too pre-emptive move?

? Perhaps I should have developed my bishop first before pushing this pawn a second time. I was interested in creating some excitement in the game. What better way than to probe the centre?

I thought that this exchange allows my knight to be more active and I have some centre space on the board. This is easily mitigated by pushing c5. I believed that black had some issues with his development, as his bishop is walled in and I like the space I have at this point in the game. If only I could blockade his pawn on d6 somehow.

Creating an extra defender for e5. Might allow for a future push and allow my c3 knight to move. I really need to develop that bishop!

Stopping Nb5. I was more considering Nd5 at some point.

Moving Nd5 hemmed in bishop some more. It was a good outpost for my knight. I wasn't too worried about the exchange as it gave me the option to move my queen aggressively. Retrospectively I should have found a way to keep my knight permanently on d5 as it was a perfect outpost. I really should bring my bishop into play here.

Not sure where the best square for the bishop was so bring it to f4. Perhaps black could be induced to break up his pawn structure some more.