if you had played 10. dxe6 I think you would have had the better position. If takes with the pawn it becomes isolated and blocks in his bishop. If he took back with the bishop you trade it with your bishop. That would leave you up a pawn with the isolated e-pawn to attack. Then you should have castled queenside.
4. b3 was just a mistake because it gives up the initiative and the resulting pawn push blocked in the knight.
Thanks for your reply, Savy_Swede.
Do you see anything from a high level in the game I should pay more attention to besides the obvious I mean, like King safety and stuff like that?
also, 15.Bxd6
take the free pawn, it will give your Bishop more mobility, you can always move King after the check, and it's a free pawn. When you move the King you go to d2 instead. With your king at d2, he somewhat protects the c-pawn, he protects the e1 square so you can defend your Re1 with 2 pieces (the other rook and the king) your rooks are connected and can defend each other and have full mobility along the 1st rank. the king at d2 is also on a dark square to keep the bishop off of him.
Blocking the queen with the pawn on move 5 was a mistake. What you should have done was Nc5 followed by a fianchetto and castling. after getting the queen out. Your king is way too exposed, and to be honest, I'm not a fan of the pawn structure neither. and 8. QxQ would have been a stronger move, since you wouldn't have had to double your kingside pawns, exposing your king.
These of course are much better explained over the board on a live game, so if you ever wish, challenge me to a friendly game, and I'll help you the best I can =)
~Amanda
Yeah, I'm horrible with no light at the end at the tunnel