Two Knights Defense Canal Variation

I wanna show you guys one of my favorite openings against the two knights defense.  Ive been pretty succesful with it so maybe you guys can try it out too.

Two Knights Defense (Canal Variation C56)

I recently had a good draw against a stronger player as Black by playing the retreat Qh5 instead of Qa5. It seemed more dynamic to pin the knight (after 12. Rxe6 the Queen hangs behind the knight, so it really IS pinned).

I like the sideline as black 8...Qh5.

8...Qh5 9.Nxe4 Be6 10.Bg5 followed by 10...Bd6 or 10...Bb4 depending on the players style of play.  A little known alternative that is as strong as 8...Qa5.

Now, with your line with 8...Qa5, 12...Bd6 is the best move with an interesting game.

Yes Qh5 looks really good actually.  I've never thought about it and i learned it as Qa5 as the best move.

In the ...Qh5 variation, White should in my opinion have done 10.Bg5 instead of 10.Neg5. This is a strong aggressive move that prevents Black escaping via queen-side castling.

This is not the Canal variation.

Canal variation is this :