In tournament chess, is the Traxler Counterattack just a dubious opening or a blunder? In the level of tournament chess, is the Traxler Counterattack just a dubious opening or a blunder? In club or online chess it works just fine, but it is one of those opening rarely seen in professional high level chess.

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 1.  e4   e5
 2. Nf3  Nc6
 3. Bc4  Nf6
 4. Ng5  Bc5
In Karpov-Beliavsky, Moscow, 1983, Black held a draw without ever being in serious trouble. Karpov played 5.Bxf7. I have never seen detailed analysis of the game.

If it suits your style, try it. But there is a HUGE volume of analysis on it. If you play it more than once you may face a booked-up opponent.