Karel Traxler

Karel Traxler
Chess master, problem composer
Full name	Karel Traxler
Country	Czech Republic
Born	(1866-01-17)January 17, 1866 Vlachovo Březí
Died	May 15, 1936(1936-05-15) (aged 70) Volyně

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.

Traxler Variation

The Traxler Variation was first shown in the following game against Reinisch, played in Hostouň in 1890:

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#

Problem composer

Because Traxler was a Roman Catholic priest, he rarely played chess in serious competitions. As a composer of chess problems he pursued the style of Bohemian school. He wrote under a number of pseudonyms: Anonymus z Tábora, Karel Kaplan, Vis Maior und Karel Zboněk. From 1896 to 1899, he edited, in part, the journal České listy šachové (Czech chess letters). He composed over 900 chess problems, mainly 2-, 3-, and 4-move problems, but also multiple-move ones, and more rarely, selfmates. With his brother-in-law, Jan Kotrč, he published a selection of 247 problems that he'd composed by 1910.

Karel Traxler
Illustrirte Zeitung, Leipzig 1906

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

White mates in 3 moves

Solution: 1.Qf8!

• if 1...Kxe4, then 2.Kf6 Kxf4 3.Qb4# Ideal mate
• if 2...Kd4, then 3.Qb4# Model mate
• if 1...Kd4, then 2.Qe8 Kc4 3.Qa4# Model mate

External links

• Karel Traxler player profile and games at Chessgames.com