London System as White: exchange of the light-squared bishops The following is a position that frequently arises in my games when I play the London System as White:



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1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 Bf5




At this point I am unable to place my light-squared Bishop in its best square (d3) without allowing an exchange of Bishops which does not seem favorable to me as the White light squared Bishop is better than the Black (all White pawns in the center occupying black squares - especially after c3 which will also be played at some point).

Yet, when browsing the database at lichess.com the most frequent continution is 4. Bd3 which invites exactly such an exchange. I' ve toyed with ideas of Nf3 followed by Nh4 in an attempt to drive off the Black Bishop (or exchange him with my Knight) but without much success.

How should White approach this Bishop exchange? Should it be avoided and, if not, how does the London System plans (for White) change after the light squared Bishop is lost?
The best way to deal with the "copycat" is to switch to the Queen's Gambit with c4 with the idea of following up at the right time with Qb3 to take advantage of the weakness on b7.