A Walk on the Wild Side, Part I

      Take a walk with me on the wild side . . . of chess.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
       When Tarrasch wrote,  ". . .Sg5 , den ich für einen richtigen Stümperzug halte."
[4. Ng5, I consider this a patzer's move (even compared to 4. d3)],  he recommended 4. 0-0 or better yet, 4. d4,  probably in line with his dogma that condemned moving the same piece twice in an  opening.  But most people agree that, despite flying in the face of a basic chess principle, after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6,  4.Ng5  poses some serious difficulties for Black.

     The usual responses to  4.Ng5, and the more sound . . . and the more boring,  include 4...d5 5.exd5 (after which most folks avoid 5...Nxd5, in  light of the notorious Fegatello — 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6 8.Nc3.) 5 ... Na5, followed by some well tested variation such as the Morphy (6. d3),   or the Steinitz (6.Bb5+) or  The Fritz (5...Nd4) or the interesting Ulvestad (5...b5).
     In 1875, according to Tim Harding,  Zukertort even suggested the interesting, complex but likely unsound,  4. . . Nxe4?!  (sometimes called  the Ponziani-Steinitz Gambit)

          However the most exciting, poetic (and probably sound) response, the one that answers White audacity with an audacity of its own, is the seemingly suicidal 4.  . . Bc5. 
     This is the beginning to the Traxler or the Wilkes-Barre.

      Nick DeFirmian wrote: "the Wilkes-Barre Variation 4...Bc5!? looks crazy—Black ignores White's threat to f7—yet there is no known refutation  of it.  In Europe, it is known as the Traxler Variation."

     While Alex Dunne wrote:  "The logic behind 4. ... Bc5 is simple and bloodthirsty: the attack belongs to the better developed side. By  branding 4. Ng5 a "beginner's move," moving a piece twice in the opening, Black prepares his own systematic attack on f2, backed up with  an extra developing move or two. If a pawn or two, a rook, or even a few pieces go into the box, what does it matter when a king is at stake?."

                                                                   ↑
5. Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6. Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7. Kg1 Qh4 8. g3 Nxg3 9. hxg3 Qxg3+ 10. Kf1 Rf8 11. Qh5 d5 12. Bxd5 Nb4 13. Bc4 b5! with advantage to Black. . . —Alex Dunne

                                                                   ↑
5. Bxf7+  Ke7 6. Bd5
Black will have two attacking moves ... Nd4 and ... Rf8. Black's pieces will focus on White's kingside. So, for a small amount of material, Black will have a large amount of attack. —Alex Dunne

   
     Karel Traxler was a Roman Catholic priest from Veselí nad Lužnicí in South Bohemia. A chess aficianado, best known as a problemist, he developed this particular line around 1892.  I've read in several places that he didn't play tournaments due to his religious affiliation, but that doesn't seem to be the case. While his tournament play might have been restricted by his responsibilities, I noted where he did, in fact play in tournaments, such as the 8th Czech Congess of 1907; E. Winter has him identified as playing in a tournament in Osyky in 1900; he was one of two judges for Best Game in the 1st International Prague Chess Tournament 1908 and he entered countless problem tourneys - indicating he had no religious hesitation to participate in tournaments.

     The "OCC" gave his name as "Peter" Karel Traxler.  I don't know their source. I've encountered his name as P. K. Traxler, but took that to mean "Pater" Karel Traxler, pater being latin for the title, "father."  Anders Thulin, citing Jeremy Gaige's "Chess Personalia," gives Traxler's pseudonyms as" Karel Kaplan," "Anonymus z Tábora but," and "Vis Maior und Karel Zboněk."  I haven't been able to connect these names with Traxler but thought they were worth mentioning here.

     I did come across this authoritative reference in Johann Berger's 1889 "Schach-jahrbuch" under the section called Addresses and Biographies of Chess Players:
Traxler, Pater Karl, Theologe, in Vlachobfezi, früher in Hammer, Wällisch-Birken und Muttersdorf; starker Spieler, auch Blindlings Spieler (4 P.); Hauptmitarbeiter der Sz. Öeske listy äachov6; £TPrag 86 (Gruppent.) I, 91 II u. UI get; P Tidkr. f. Skak. 97 I; S im Tabor 86.

The first known Traxler game.

      Before proceeding with the Traxler Defense in any detail, let's examine a bit deeper the man behind the opening, Karel Traxler.  Unfortunately, I can't say I know a lot about him.

     Traxler was born January 17, 1866 in Vlachově Březí, a town in the province of Prachatice in South Bohemia. While studying for the priesthood in Budějovice, he founded a chess club there in 1885 and edited a chess column in the local paper.  As a parish priest, he served in several locales, one of which was at the Church of Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Veselí nad Lužnicí.  He organized the first Czech correspondence tournament on Dec. 15, 1886 in which he took first place.

Traxler co-edited several periodicals, such as "Ceske listy sachove" (1896-7)

     He founded a chess club there which hosted the South Bohemian Chess Congress in 1898, 1901 and 1902.  Finally, he was tranferred to Dub u Vodňan (Dub near Vodňany) where he stayed until his death on May 15, 1936. Although he didn't play in very many, he is known to have won a prize in a tournament as early as 1886, and he shared second place in Prague 1891. He won first prize in the chess congress at Veselí in 1902.  Karel Traxler was best known, however, as a problemist. He and his brother-in-Law, Jan Kotrč, another chess problemist, were considered the two leading Bohemian chess players until Oldřich Duras came along.

     Here is Traxler's sparkling win against 20 the year old future grandmaster, Duras in the 1902 Veseli tournament:

    I believe that most chess enthusiasts enjoy solving chess puzzles, but only a select group are truly interested in chess problems. Now chess problems, often referred to as compositions, differ somewhat from chess puzzles.  Puzzles generally require the solver to either gain some advantage, to save a seemingly lost position or to simply find a "mate in x moves," usually in a realistic or actual setting with the practical value of acheiving some stated goal as the only objective. A chess problem doesn't usually concern itself with a realistic setting, nor is the actual solution in itself the sole, and sometimes not even the primary, consideration for the solver or the composer.  Problems are usually judged, not just on the complexity, cleverness and economy of the composition, but in the adherence to certain objective criteria and on the presence of a certain subjective beauty or aesthetic value. 
     Karel Traxler seems to have been a first-rate composer, though possibly not on par with the highest echelon, often winning or placing highly in minor tourneys or in the second tier of major tourneys.  Below I've culled some problems from different sources in a sort of Traxler Problem Patchwork Sampler.

     N.B. The solution may contain only the "key move."

     This problem won 2nd prize in the "Leisure Hour"  Problem Tourney of 1900.
      ["Leisure Hour" was an illustrated monthly magazine published in London]

     This problem won 1st prize in the "Národni listy" Problem Tourney, 1921.
      ["Národni listy" was then a Croatian daily newspaper]

     This problem won 1st Hon. Mention in the Swedish "Aftonbladet" Problem Tourney 1899.
     ["Aftonbladet" was/is a Swedish tabloid-style newspaper]

     An unlikely source, a magazine called "Our Young People" [ a monthly magazine, published in Wisconsin, with articles of general interest to Catholics, put out by the St. John's Institute for Deaf-Mutes], in 1904 contained this equally unlikely tournament game played by Traxler in which his opponent mirrored his every single move and was finally mated:

                                         Value of First Move Demonstrated

     Chess at Prague ―
     As mentioned earlier, Traxler's brother-in-law was Jan Kotrč, another well-known problemist. Several games between the two problemist are preserved. This one, a particularly beautifully played draw took place  in Prague and was published in New Zealand's "Otaga Witness" on Jan. 30, 1901: