Philidor Defence - White's attack on the center Does white always have a very strong central attack against black in Philidor defence?

I need some resource suggestions on Philidor defence theory.
The most popular (and arguably the most precise) move order for black to play the Philidor defence is 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5. Alternative move orders are, for example, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 or 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 followed by 4....e5.

According to the Game Database of ChessTempo, the most popular continuation is 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.0-0 0-0. However, 3.f3, 4.dxe5, 4.Nge2 and 5.g4 are also interesting alternatives for white.

There are a couple of repertoire books on the Philidor, for instance by GM Bauer (2007) and IM Barksy (2010).
If you are interested in the Philidor from white's perspective, the book by GM Negi (2014) can be recommended.



      [FEN ""]
      [StartPly "1"]

      1.e4 d6 (1...e5 2.Nf3 d6) 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 (3.f3) e5 (3...Nbd7) 4.Nf3 (4.dxe5)(4.Nge2) Nbd7 5.Bc4 (5.g4) Be7 6.O-O O-O