Demolition moves !

I always found black's reply 8...h6 ( diagram ) in the Hara Kiri attack in the Teichmann Exchange an interesting defense. The move prevents 9.g5, dislodging the black horseman from its preferred location. But then again, apart from preventing white to do something, it does nothing but yielding the initiative to white.

In my book, I suggested white to continue 9.Bf4, but now I realise this is not sufficient for the attack, as the continuation 9...Qxd4 10.Nb5 cxb5 11.Qxb7 Qe4+ 12.Qxe4 Nxe4 13.Bg2 Nd7 14.Bxe4 Rc8 15.000 brings no advantage for the attacker. White has the bishop pair, but black has a solid pawn. Too many pieces have been exchanged however to give white winning chances, so a draw seems a logical result.

Christoph Scheerer lists 9.Be3, but I also doubt this is sufficient, since 9...e6 10.Bd3 Bb4 is also not great for the attacker. Christoph now provides 11.00, also backed up by a Peter Leisebein correspondence game. But the line 11...Qe7 12.a3 Bd6 13.b4 a6 seems to be inferior to 13...Nbd7, with black having far the better game.

So I believe 9.Bd2 is best as it i) takes the bite out of Bb4 and ii) allows castling queenside, even if black grabs another pawn.

a/ 9...Qxd4 10.000

...a1/ 10...Qb6 11.h4 Nbd7 12.Bh3 (=)
...a2/ 10...e6 11.Bxh6 Qb6 12.Be3 Bc5 13.Bd2 (=)
...a3/ 10...Qc5 11.Nb5 Na6 12.Be3 (+=)
...a4/ 10...Qe5 11.Nb5 Na6 12.Bf4 (+=)
...a5/ 10...Nbd7 11.Bxh6 (+=)

b/ 9...e6 10.000
...b1/ 10...Qxd4 (=) ( cfr a2 above )
...b2/ 10...Bb4 11.Kb1 (=)
...b3/ 10...Be7 11.Kb1 (+=)
...b4/ 10...Bd6 11.h4 (+=)
...b5/ 10...Nbd7 11.h4 (=)
...b6/ 10...Qb6 11.Be1 (=)

c/ 9...Qb6 10.000
...c1/ 10...e6 (=) ( cfr b6 above )
...c2/ 10...Nbd7 11.Be2 (+=)

d/ 9.Nbd7 10.000 (=)
...d1/ 10...e6 (=) ( cfr b5 above )
...d2/ 10...Nb6 11.a3 (=)
...d3/ 10...Qb6 (+=) ( cfr c2 above )

More work is needed on this line, but I believe 9.Bd2 it is a better alternative than 9.Bf4 or 9.Be3.