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J Reinisch vs Karel Traxler
"The Traxler Variation" (game of the day Mar-01-2017)
Hostoun (1890), Hostoun AUH, Mar-20
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense. Traxler Counterattack Knight sac line (C57)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 5 OF 5 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Mar-01-17  morfishine: <ColeTrane> Sarcasm
Mar-01-17  TransfiniteCardinal: What a mind@#$% of a golden age of chessgame - boring @#$%* draws is our @#$% now.
Mar-01-17  catlover: <TransfiniteCardinal> Just a neighborly suggestion—you might want to check your keyboard. I think some of your symbol keys might be stuck.
Mar-01-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <TransfiniteCardinal: What a mind@#$% of a golden age of chessgame - boring @#$%* draws is our @#$% now.>

Have you considered tiddliwinks? It might be more to your taste.

Mar-01-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  Plaskett: New In Chess featured the position after 6 Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7 Ke3 on the front cover not so far back. Computer analysis suggesting this may indeed leave white clearly better in all lines. Have fun checking that out, guys!
Mar-01-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: <Few people are aware of the fact that Houston was a veritable chess powerhouse in the 1890's.>

Ron Henley is from Texas, isn't he? He was Karpov's second in one of his world championship matches. I think Henley has also worked as a securities trader, perhaps in Dallas?

Mar-01-17  Gypsy: <Probably the best game ever played in Houston.>

Hostoun /= Houston

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosto...

Mar-01-17  catlover: <Gypsy><HeMateMe> While I'm certain there are some very strong players from Texas, I was just kidding about Houston being a chess powerhouse in the 1890s. I was trying to play off <offramp>'s humor about the game being played in Houston.
Mar-01-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: Texas does have the best college teams!
Mar-01-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Before Henley came along, Ken Smith was a strong master (and outstanding poker player) from Texass.
Mar-01-17  catlover: <HeMateMe: Texas does have the best college teams!>

True, especially when you're talking about American football teams. Shucks, in Texas even high school football games are main events!

Mar-01-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: well, football "is" America in Texas. But, was thinking of the Texas tech and dallas chess teams. The oil companies bring in some VERY strong players and give them scholarships. They're there to become petroleum engineers, chess team is the side line.
Mar-04-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  Del ToRo: Amazing game
Nov-02-17  ChatGrognon: What a game!
Jul-31-19  gambitfan: What happens if 8. Nf7xQd8 ?
Aug-01-19  gambitfan: 1) -4.60 (26 ply) 8.♘xd8 bxc4+ 9.♔xc4 ♗a6+ 10.♔b4 ♖b8+ 11.♔a5 ♗e2 12.♕xe2 ♘xe2 13.d3 ♔xd8 14.♘c3 ♘xc1 15.♖hxc1 ♖xb2 16.♖ab1 ♗b6+ 17.♔a6 ♖xb1 18.♖xb1 c6 19.h3 ♘e8 20.♘a4 ♗e3 21.♖e1 ♗f2 22.♖f1 ♖f8 23.♘b2 ♘c7+ 24.♔b7 ♘e6 25.♘c4 ♘c5+ 26.♔xa7

2) -6.64 (25 ply) 8.♗b3 ♕e7 9.c3 d5 10.cxd4 exd4 11.♘c3 dxc3 12.♔c2 cxd2 13.♕e2 ♕c5+ 14.♔b1 ♘xe4 15.♗xd2 ♗g4 16.♕d3 ♗f5 17.♗c2 O-O 18.g4 ♘xd2+ 19.♕xd2 ♗e3 20.♕c3 ♗xc2+ 21.♕xc2 ♖xf7 22.♕xc5 ♗xc5 23.♖d1 c6 24.♔c2 ♖f2+ 25.♖d2 ♖xd2+ 26.♔xd2 ♖e8 27.♖d1 ♗d4 28.♔c2 ♖e2+ 29.♔d3

Aug-01-19  gambitfan: Comment jouer la Traxler

http://www.pousseurdebois.fr/cours/...

Comment jouer la Traxler

article in French

Apr-07-20  chessix: great game
Aug-16-20  Swapmeet: My favorite move is 14...Bd3+. Like I don’t even HAVE to take your queen even though taking it doesn’t make any difference. Alpha move.
Jul-03-22  takchess: Notes on the traxler 7...b5 is worth a queen ? a position to study. 8...Ne4 is worth giving up the queen due to the mating combinations beginning with 9... would be cool to learn. In fact this whole game is worth memorizing.
Jun-15-23  generror: This may be the most awesome, if not to say mindf*BEEEP*cking mate combination I ever saw. And, unlike some amateur games I've seen, Black doesn't horribly and ridiculously f*BEEP*ck it up. People seem to think "oh yeah, Bxf2+ and Nxe4 and then Qh4 or maybe Qf6 if he's on the f-file. I'd love to play this just to see Black shoot himself in the knee.

(One of my greatest chess moments was when someone tried the Englund Gambit trap on me, the one with ...Qe7, ...Qb4+ and then ...Bb4 into which I fell twice, and luckily, just a day before I had a deep look at it and understood that this opening is indeep cr*BEEEP*p if you play Nd5. I think i even messed it up and played Nd5 a move too early, but he immediately resigned as soon as he realized his stupid trap didn't give him an easy win, although he would only be down a piece, which isn't much in a chess.com blitz game between Elo 800 :)

Anyway, I'm just going through the Traxler with Stockfish and boy oh boy, it's like a mini game of its own. I've seen some sharp variations in my analyses so far, but it can't possible get sharper and more double-edged than in the Traxler. Yes, some squares of the king are very clear draws or losses, but some others are extremely unclear. It reminds me of the fractal border between of the Mandelbrot set which I spent days exploring twenty years ago. Truly amazing stuff.

My current impression is that it seems that best for White is to actually *take* the bishop on f2. If you're very, very, very, very accurate, I think you can come out with a piece ahead. But even Stockfish isn't sure and its evaluations are fluctuating wildly. I'm sure someone with a better memory than me would be able to beat Stockfish playing Traxler in a Blitz game -- at least until the end of the opening phase.

Personally, I'd just grab the offered pawn with Bxf7 and then get the bishop out. But I'll have a closer look at that one too, you can never be completely sure about the Traxler.

Kudos to Karel Traxler for discovering this amazing piece of chess art!

I do love chess!

Jul-16-23  rwbean: Stockfish: the best move is 7... ♕e7 but the moves played allowed for a wonderful Black move 8! These days Stockfish recommends 5. ♗xf7+ after 3 seconds and stays there, recognising 5. ♘xf7? is at most a draw immediately. All those NIC articles by Maarten de Zeeuw claiming possible refutations with 5. ♘xf7 were ultimately incorrect.

8... ♘xe4 is a mate in (at most) 24:

8.... ♘xe4 9.♘d6+ cxd6 10.♗f7+ ♔xf7 11.♕h5+ g6 12.♕f3+ ♘xf3 13.c3 ♕g5 etc

Sep-01-23  VerySeriousExpert: The captures of pawns f7 and f2 (5.Nxf7 Bxf2+, 5.Bxf7+) in the Traxler Attack, analogously to the capture Nxf7 in the Fegatello Attack etc., have become worldwide known bright symbols of the Two Knights Defence with 4.Ng5. The alternative way 4.d4 can also have its bright symbols where squares f7 or f2 are concerned too, but these variations should be popularized. Thus, the recent game Bukayev Yury - Golshev Valery (2023, https://jeromegambit.blogspot.com/2... ) includes the blow 7.Bxf7+!, the rare pawn f7 checkmate 11.f7#!, the blow 9.Qf3!! which wins very rapidly.
Sep-01-23  VerySeriousExpert: I would like to add that this new game Bukayev Yury - Golshev Valery (2023) has almost nothing in common with their old game

Yury Bukayev vs Valery Golshev, 2021 ,

although Rick Kennedy tries to say about it. In fact, they both are sharp and use Black's weakness of his King's position.

The checkmate 11.f7# (where Black's King can't retreat due to Black's pieces and pawns only!) in this new game is extremely rare for long White's combinations in chess.

Feb-25-24  EvanTheTerrible: I was unfamiliar with this game until I saw Ben Finegold's video on the greatest sacrifices ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1C...

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