Annotated Chess Game 8096328

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.

?! Perhaps swapping a good knight for a bad bishop. I wanted to buy some space and simplify the position for myself a bit.

Won a pawn and cleared some space for my bishop to zip around the board. I am never sure whether I should really try to swap the ladies off, but I felt it gave me an advantage so I did.

Seemed like a logical place for the rook, but perhaps I should have kept it queenside to help the pawns up the board?

I was starting to think I had tied myself up a bit with some bad pawn moves. Now I was being forced to defend my pawns, and being put on the defensive.

Tucking the bishop away for long range attack - I was actually quite proud of this bishop and his diagonal. Silly really. Small pleasures.

Trying to get on the offensive a bit.

I was just trying to gobble a pawn here - I realized that I would likely exchange the rook, but I knew if I could eat some material I would stand a better chance of a win.

Part of the gobbling idea was to destroy the pawn bunker behind which the king was protected. It worked!

Not sure where my king is running too here - but I am usually guilty of not moving my king early enough. I decided to bring him into the game, perhaps a little too soon?

Trying to get on the offensive again!

?? Ouch! Long range bishop did exactly what I hoped he would do - just sit tight and hope that my opponent wouldn't notice him. :-)

Just trying to gobble material.

Start running a pawn up the board.

?? What was I doing? That was a brain fart if ever I saw one! I didn't check for possible attacks - I just moved the pawn... that's a swift reminder!

I think I just got a get out of jail for free card. I couldn't believe I didn't lose my rook. I can't see any reason why my opponent shouldn't have taken it...