Sometimes the attacker has to defend first

I already covered an interesting line in the Paleface in earlier articles : 1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2 0-0 6.Nc3 c6 7.0-0-0 b5 8.g4 b4. In these articles, I showed that 9.Nce2 is not to be feared as 9...Qa5 can be countered by the simple, yet effective 10.Kb1

Yesterday my blitz opponent played differently and comtinued 1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2 0-0 6.Nc3 c6 7.0-0-0 b5 8.g4 Qa4 (diagram).

In good Blackmar-Diemer style, I attacked on the opposite end with 9.h4, but came in a difficult position after 9...b4 10.Nce2 Qxa2 11.Qxb4. Black now tried to open up things further with 11...c5 and I found myself quickly in a mating net.

So it is obvious that 9.h4 is far to slow - black's threats have to be dealt with first - I realize this is hard to accept for a Blackmar Diemer gambiteer :-(

After analysis it seems there are multiple white candidates : 9.a3, 9.Kb1, 9.g5, maybe even 9.b3 ( which I dont like as it opens the whole diagonal for the black bishop ).

9.g5 (diagram) seems insufficient as the black knigt can safely jump to h5, halting white's attack. White now has to play a3 or Kb1 anyway, so this seems like a loss of time.

White can transpose into the lines described earlier by 9.Kb1 b4 10.Nce2 with an equal game.

9.a3 b4 10.Na2 (diagram) seems the best option for white

10...c5 seems the most dangerous continuation here, but white has nothing to fear after 11.Kb1.
10...Na6 is met by the simple 11.Bxa6 and white is on top.

So there is nothing to fear in the Paleface - provided the gambiteer defends from time to time...