My first thought is that today an early ...Be6 is mainly played with the idea of meeting Ng5 with ...Ke7. I would expect the drawback of 9 ...h6 10 h3 Be6 to be that you are not in time to stop Ne2-f4xe6, and normally this is something you don't want to happen. But if a German IM has been playing it regularly (I hadn't noticed this) then he must have some idea, of course.

Papageno, thanks for your interest in my book.

I did mean to say somewhere why I didn't talk about 9...h6 much; perhaps I didn't.

You're right that it's one of the most popular moves, but so far as I could see it doesn't lead to independent positions. The Berlin is very difficult to classify by moves because both sides have such a wide choice at every turn, but as you know I divided it into ...Be7 plans, ...Bd7 plans or ...Ne7 plans (or some other specific plans with ...b6, ...early ...a5 or 9..Be6). As far as I can see there is no worthwhile plan starting with 9...h6 that doesn't lead into one of the other plans. That's why I didn't treat it independently.

As emary says, most often it's a way of reachng the 9...Ne7 set-up, which has good and bad points. You prevent 9...Ne7 10 Nd4 (games 1-3) or Bg5 (games 8 and 9, I think). But you prevent yourself playing 10...Bg4 or ..Bf5, which is a popular option after 10 b3, for example.

If you want to play ...Bd7 systems then people still sometimes play 9....h6. It stops the Hungarian line which Khalifman recommends (10 Rd1 Kc8 11 Ng5). On the other hand if White plays 10 Rd1+ you can't go 10...Bd7 because of g4 and e6, so you have to go 10...Ke8, and now you have to play ...Ne7 systems, albeit a nice version of them since Rd1 restricts White's choices. I don't know what drawbacks the early ...h6 might have if White plays other systems; I'm afraid I haven't considered that. I deliberately didn't get into transpositional move orders because they are subtle, difficult and personal to the likes and dislikes of the player, and because once you start you never stop.

If you're going to play ...Be7 then ...h6 is usually a waste of time because you don't need to cover g5 anyway. I suppose if you were particularly terrified of Bg5 systems and particularly confident against other setups you might want to try it, but no strong ..Be7 expert does it that way.

It's definitely not a question of a concrete line throwing 9...h6 into doubt, at least as far as I know. Just my decision on how to present the material.

Hope that helps.

I have been vaguely meaning to post a thread about the Wang-Yue Berlin meeting its recent Waterloo in Jakovenko-WY, Elista, and also about Radjabov-Carlsen from Thessalonika, but I haven't got round to it. Anyway, if anyone is interested in the Berlin then those were interesting games, and if anyone cares to post a thread discussing them I'll try and contribute (Shirov-Naiditsch from Dresden was also terrific).

Sure, no doubt that Black can do without 9... h6. (E.g. with ...Ne7. I mentioned a couple of other moves.) But that was not my point.

Instead, is there any refutation of this move, so that Cox has any reason not to treat it? Of course, there is some decline in popularity recently for 9...h6 since say Kramnik himself played it more that once e.g. in 2002 and 2005. But why? Still interested in some concrete line.

Regards, papageno.

Just browsing through Cox: Berlin Wall, I realize that he deals with lots of 9th move alternative for Black, just to mention 9...Ne7 (with and without Ng6 in the next move) , 9...Bd7, 9...Be7 and 9...Ke8 (followed by a7-a5-a4!?). Even  9...Be6 is dealt with, amongst the more dubious continuations

However, 9... h6 seems not to be discussed at all, as far as I unterstand. Nor is explained why this move is irrelevant... After all, 9...h6 is among the most popular moves in the position. (In fact, it is the move I have seen most often, when I play the Berlin with the white pieces.) Admittedly, there are a few remarks by Cox scattered over the book: On the side, the move ...h6 is often played soon and quite useful. On the other side, he remarks that late Tony Miles almost never employed it, seeing it as a loss of tempo. Black might need to play h5-h7 in one move, etc.

So, what's the current verdict on this move 9...h6? Which reason (or maybe a concrete line) put it out of use? Did perhaps Khalifman refute it?

IMHO, Black could well consider playing 9...h6 10.h3 and then continue with his usual plans like 10... Bd7 or Ne7 or even 10... Be6. Any opinions?

(Edit: It's all about 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3)