Instead of a3 to encourage the exchange, why not just get your king castled? Then your knight will be free.
If black wants to give you the advantage of the two bishops, why not enjoy it?
A3 for third move as white in QGD
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When I play the queen's gambit declined, I have a hard time winning when my knight gets pinned to my king, whether it be Nimzo-Indian, or the standard pin after 2...e6. I play a3 to avoid this and have had reletively a lot of success with it. However, I am >1200 and I want to eventually move up to a new level. When I look at databases I see that the pin is nothing to worry about, but is having doubled queenside pawns really worth the 2 tempi development time? I see the statistics for moves following 3. a3 to be very low, but I have had success with it. Should I start playing with the doubled pawns or wait until I find more problems with a3 because as it is now I have a lot of success in the QGD because I know the line after a3 so well.