(courtesy Wikipedia.org) Karel Traxler (1866 – 1936) was a Czech chess master and composer of chess problems.
He is best known for the hyper-aggressive variation named after him, the Traxler Variation in the Two Knights Defense, which was first shown in the following game against Reinisch, played in Hostouň in 1890 (moves given in Algebraic chess notation):
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5!? 5.Nxf7?! (modern theory suggests that 5.Bxf7+! is better) Bxf2+! 6.Ke2 (Traxler recommends 6.Kf1! Qe7 7.Nxh8 d5 8.exd5 Nd4, where Black has a strong attack but White may nonetheless hold) 6...Nd4+ 7.Kd3? b5! 8.Bb3 Nxe4!! 9.Nxd8 Nc5+ 10.Kc3 Ne2+! 11.Qxe2 Bd4+ 12.Kb4 a5+ 13.Kxb5 Ba6+ 14.Kxa5 Bd3+ 15.Kb4 Na6+ 16.Ka4 Nb4+ 17.Kxb4 c5#
(This is also known as the Wilkes-Barre variation.) Because Traxler was a Roman-Catholic priest, he rarely played chess in serious competitions. As a chess composer he pursued the style of Bohemian school. Here is a PDF document (courtesy of New in Chess) on the Traxler gambit, written by Maartin de Zeeuw. If I find any articles on this gambit (checking numerous magazines as well as the Players Chess Annual), I will post the link. Enjoy!
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