There's an old adage in chess, "get your King safe before you attack". You can be castled in 4 moves if you play 1) e4. This generally leads to an open center that allows for direct tactical attacks on the King; which is why beginners are shown the open game before the closed/semi-closed games (because they open at some point to reach a conclusion).

It is very smart to keep it simple.

With 2 pieces developed and is ready to castle, compared to Black with only 1 piece developed and King still in the center, White should be thinking - YES, THERE WILL BE BLOOD.

"Fried Liver" is the name of 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5? 6. Nxf7!?, not the name of the opening as a whole. The main line is indeed 5... Na5, but there are other options; I'm rather fond of the Ulvestad (5... b5).

Black develops a 2nd piece and threatens the unprotected e-pawn. The fireworks fuse is lit. What to do? Protect the pawn (develop a piece or move a pawn), or ignore the threat (attack the death pawn of f7, castle, attempt to open the center more, something else)? The tactics have started to take precedent over positional play.

This isn't so good. Black does well with 4... Nxe4 here.

I remembered that trick during the game from when I still played e4 ( 7 years ago ) where I faced the same position andfaced Nxe4 nuntar. The conclusion I made back then and that I recalled during the game is that you either play Nxe4 after which d5 is played and white plays Bd3, temporarily blocking of the d-pawn. Black has to take however since otherwise he'll be down a piece. The material will be equal and I don't hate the position following from there. The other option is to just ignore it and castle after which you can argue that white will get compensation for the pawn in terms of the speed he can develop his pieces at.

Ideally the Queen's knight goes on a tour to the king side via e2-f1 and from there can go either to e3 or g3 which ever is better. I have never liked the knight of c3 in these types of positions. I would have played the simple 4. d3! stopping any fun business on e4.

It may not be ultra macho and manly, but who wants to be super manly anyway?

After 4) ...Nxe4 there's the option 5) Bxf7+ followed by 6) Nxe4.

The Four Knights; now White can try to pull the pawn fork with 5) Nxe5. The position is symmetrical which favors the the side with the move (White).

There are 4 principals in chess - Force (material), Space, Tempo (Time) and Pawn Structure; all of which revolve around King Safety. The main concept of symmetrical positions is TEMPO! Make the move matter, make it count, have it stand for something, otherwise your King's safety is of no significance.

that is exactly what white has in mind! Other possibilities involve the queen side with a4 and b4

That you have no clue what the ideas behind this position are, AND is ... symmetrical are the keys to your improvement. Material advantage - trade pieces, material disadvantage - trade pawns. Space advantage - don't trade (redeploy for a break through), space disadvantage - trade a set or two of pieces to provide room for what remains. Pawn Structure better - use it to restrict your opponents play, PS worse - look for ways to fix/eliminate the issue. Time advantage - go after the King or trade it for something more permanent, disadvantage - trade an advantage somewhere else to catch up. Symmetrical positions - whoever has the move has the advantage, MAKE IT COUNT. Remember every chess games starts from a symmetrical position; if this was the starting position of every chess game - what would you do?

Your main issue here is the limited scope of your LSB. All black has to do is play Be6 and is by-by bishop. This is a strategic concession for white as usually he aims to retain the bishop pair. Also the loss of the LSB means that e4 is potently problematic. So in order to deal with this white must create space for the LSB. This is usually done either by Nd5 or Na4. I would have played. 6. Na4 Bb6 7. c3!? this give the bishop room to escape if given the chance. However, black can still force the exchange at a positional cost. 7. ...Be6!? 8. Bxe6 fxe6 9.0-0 0-0 10. b4!? and white has a small long term advantage.

So at this point you only considered 6) h3 or Bg5? Did you notice that you have 5 pawns on light squares making your LSB less effective than your DSB and that Black's B's were reversed (meaning if ...Be6, Black is willing to trade their more effective B for a less effective one)? Both sides have pawn spears aimed at the K-side, where is the K, for practical purposes, safe - Center, K/Q-side?

6...Na5 is a better way to attack the bishop IMO

I would not trust the gameknot database as it is full of blunders. Your move is by far the best that white has.

Again another alternative is 8. Na4 followed by b4! following the plan of attacking on the queen side. For example, 8. Na4 Bb6 9. c3 0-0 10. b4!?

I probably should have taken more time here to come up with a long term plan. In this game I probably waited it out a tad too long and as a result ended up on the defending side.

Should have first played Qe2 if this was your intent.

symmetrical positions are quite drawish

It appears as if you have just played h3, not fe, a move that neither controls the center or develops a piece. Now the most important element is the open f-file. Whoever controls it controls the game.

Please note that Qe7 helps to control the f-file.

If you can not find useful plans forward then, the next order of business is to find good restraining moves. Restraining moves are like vices that slowly increase the pressure over time. For example, 10. a3 restrains the knight and prepares for possible b2-b4

Helping to control the f-file for the R's (just need to 0-0-0). No need to worry about a Black central thrust taking over more space as your position is solid with enough room for the remaining pieces to maneuver safely. Should the major pieces trade along the f-file than you should be looking at a drawn position.

Remember - King Safety is first and foremost before conducting any exercises.

I would give this a ?! as pushing in the centre while your king is still in the center is a bad idea. It stands to reason that this is where it all starts to go down hill for you. Best is 0-0-0

Until now a good opening which resulted in an even score. Then came d4 starting the central trade off before getting the K to safety with 0-0-0. Note that castling to the opposite side has complications which should be left til you are more experienced.

This is too his advantage as it releases the power of the rook along the d-file.

Here there was a discussion as to whether it should be exd5 or dxe5. The latter loses after Nxe4 Nxe4 dxe4 and now the N must move and then Nxe5 wins a pawn.