traxler counter attack help

Hi,

Here are a few ways to make a successful attack :

-Do not trade pieces! Trading pieces will result in you having less pieces for the attack, so refrain from doing that. 

-Try to get all your pieces into the attack! As long as you have the time, bring in all your pieces for maximum efficiency!

-Block your opponent's exits! Try to think ahead on where your opponent can run. Try the attacking section on chess.com's detailed puzzle list.

Traxler has to be the worst "attack" in history because there are several good lines for the defense by white and if he doesn't "accept" the attacking line black will be lost. I was about to rant against traxler but good thing that u made a post about it

? But who has those memorized. Not till the upper levels

4.d5 is a lot simpler than Traxler and also fine for black. If 4.Bc5 then 5.Bxf7+ is good for white, much better than 5.Nxf7 allowing all this crazy stuff. 

Traxler is certainly not the worst - I've seen some really bad gambit lines from an objective standpoint. I used to play the Traxler all the time with Black - I had the lines memorized really well (studied it before) and got some exciting wins with it. As @Moonwarrior_1 mentions, many players didn't see it coming. 

I gave up that opening a long time ago because I got to a level where my opponents seldom fell into it (objectively know the theory or simply dodged it by intuition). I think it was maybe 1400-ish I gave up that opening? 

By no means would I recommend this to a player serious with long-term repertoire choice, but it can be good:

-to learn how to attack

-change of pace

-surprise value

and probably a few other reasons too.

The issue i have with traxler is that often times it's black who has to find the "only" moves to maintain a lead even if white plays some inaccurate moves. The best attacking lines are those which have several good moves for the attacking side while defender has only a few good, precise moves.  Also, one HUGE problem with trexlar is that the opponent doesn't even need to accept it. On Bxf2+ Kf1 and now white is strictly better with a very straight forward material advantage. 

All of that can also be down the trash if white just plays Bishop check instead of knight takes pawn at the start.

One another point against the traxler is that the normal line against fried liver is not only better but is very easy to play since it involved several developing moves with tempo. You don't sacrifice your position to get that lead against the mainline of fried liver and u still get huge development so why anyone will ever use traxler is beyond me

The Traxler isn't terrible for black. I don't know why some people hate it.

But why not just play Na5? Black is pretty good in those lines.

I just got to know about the traxler 30 mins before, just the main attack and i thought it can be a fun line to try. However as soon as i started to think Kf1 looked just a way better move than Kxf2 because now white is going to gain material. Unless the opponent is not thinking at all the attack has potential.  I also don't like how black has to find a tight rope to walk even if the opponent accepts the bishop. Sure people don't memorize it but any amount of calculation can easily lead white to the correct moves.

One problem i see is that if white plays an unexpected defensive move it's now black who often times has to find the "ONLY" move to maintain some attack. It puts the pressure of attack on black instead of white i feel.

I also feel that just the mainline against friend liver is so much better that traxler is not needed at all

it's terrible because Bc5 is terrible. A lot of players will just play Bxf7+ instinctively just to make the black king move and black is already lost