ChessScreenshot

Traxler Counter-Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 · C57

Part of Two Knights Defense

Starting positionWhite to move

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The capture on f7 changes the attack

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The idea

Black answers Ng5 with ...Bc5, ignoring the attack on f7 and setting up a dangerous counterattack against White's uncastled king.

Main line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Ke7 6.Bb3 Qe8

What White wants

  • Consider Bxf7+ followed by a bishop retreat to take a pawn without the rook fork
  • Calculate the checks after Nxf7 before deciding whether to take on f2
  • Finish development rather than chasing material with the king exposed

What Black wants

  • Meet Nxf7 with the forcing counter-sacrifice ...Bxf2+
  • Use ...Nxe4+ and queen checks if White accepts the bishop
  • After Bxf7+, seek active development while attending to king safety

Key idea

Understand this and the moves stop needing to be memorised.

The capture on f7 changes the attack

Nxf7 forks Black's queen and rook, but ...Bxf2+ gives Black forcing checks before White collects either piece. Bxf7+ is a different choice: White takes a pawn with check and retreats the bishop. The displayed line follows that more restrained approach, not a rook-winning sequence.

Common mistake

Playing Kxf2 automatically after ...Bxf2+. The reply ...Nxe4+ drives the king farther into the centre, and ...Qh4 adds threats before White has time to take the rook.

Mistake example: Qh4.

Representative position

The position this opening is aiming at. Copy the FEN, or open it in the analysis board and let the engine tell you what it is worth.

r1b1q2r/ppppk1pp/2n2n2/2b1p1N1/4P3/1B6/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQ - 3 7

Analyze this position

Traps in this opening

Moves in this opening that look natural and lose.

Traxler: The Rook-Grab MateThe knight on f7 attacked the rook after the queen moved away. Capturing h8 seems to justify White's earlier adventure and wins substantial material.Wilkes-Barre: The Nd4 MateThe king leaves the first rank, and e2 looks like an escape from the bishop's diagonal. White has already accepted several sacrifices and wants to keep the material.
All opening traps

Related openings

Two Knights Defense1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 · C55–C59Black ignores the attack on f7 and develops instead — a challenge that says the pawn is not really en prise and White has to prove otherwise.Fried Liver Attack1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 · C57White sacrifices a knight on f7 to drag the black king into the middle of the board, where it can never be safe again.Italian Game1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 · C50–C59The oldest opening in chess: the bishop takes the diagonal that points at f7, the weakest square in Black's camp, and both sides develop fast.King's Gambit1.e4 e5 2.f4 · C30–C39White offers the f-pawn to deflect Black's e5 pawn and build an unopposed centre of e4 and d4 — romantic, risky and still dangerous today.