The Traxler: Ideas for White and Black
Hi people! The Occasional Blogger here and this blog will be on the Traxler Counterattack, one of the riskiest ways to refute the Fried Liver Attack, which already is one of the more exciting lines in the Italian opening. This was requested a LONG time ago so here I am!
This is the setup of the Traxler:
The Traxler move 4...Bc5 counterattacks by targeting the weak f2 pawn, black sacrificing the dark-squared bishop for a possible lethal attack on white's king.
First off, I will be talking about ideas for black as the attacker.
Ideas for Black: Attacking
The Traxler is a weapon black might use in games from time to time. This segment will explain the ideas for black.
To start off, Stockfish says that 4...Bc5 isn't a great move at first. Though white may make some mistakes and then the tables turn.
This the Traxler from black's side:
Black's plan is to sacrifice the bishop and gain something on white's king. There are two main lines here white can play. 5.Nxf7 or 5. Bxf7.
If 5.Nxf7...
we play Bxf2+, following our plan of sacrificing our bishop. White plays 6.Kxf2, assuming that there's no harm in taking the bishop for a pawn.
Now, black continues by playing 6...Nxe4+.
From this point let's say white has no idea what black has in mind and returns their king to e1?? Real big mistake here by white. Now black has the crushing move... Qh4+! White is forced to play g3 to prevent mate. The line continues below as well as other possible lines.
Ideas for White: Refuting (kinda)
Now we're here on white's side of the Traxler. There is a line where white can walk its king to somewhere safe, for now.
This variation can only be reached from the Knight Sacrifice line, which is 5.Nxf7, forking the queen and rook.
Then Bxf2+, Kxf2 and Nxe4+. Here's a puzzle if you can find the way for white.
Now let's head over to the Bishop Sacrifice Line, or 5.Bxf7+.
This is regarded as the better line since it immediately threatens the black pieces.
After 5...Ke7, white should retreat their bishop to b3.
Top engine move line goes 6...Qe8 7.d3 d6 8.Nf3 Qg6, etc.
I can't go too deep in this since this is the Traxler in a nutshell. I tried to give you the least effort but as much as I could in half an hour. This was quite nice to write especially with music playing on my top secret playlist.
If you have any questions or feedback, you can put it in the comments. For now, my final thought of the Traxler is that before you play Traxler, study it hard. That's all for today people. Three things to leave this as it is.
- Don't underestimate the big rubber duck on my pfp
- Share this with your friends
- Have a good day!
- Ryan 
also rip @hiryanli but he's back :-D
