1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5 5. Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6. Kf1 Qe7 7. Nxh8 d5 8. exd5 Nd4 9. c3?

9. d6!.

9. h3=.

9... Bg4 10. Qa4+ Nd7 11. Kxf2 Qh4+ 12. Kg1??

“ 12. Ke3 is the only saving move, but [Black] is winning after 12... Qg5+ 13. Kf2 Qf5+ 14. Kg1 O-O-O” (tournament book). An early game by the variations's inventor, Mikyska - Traxler, 3rd Czech correspondence tourney, 1896, finished 15. cxd4 Rf8 16. h3 Qf2+ 17. Kh2 Bxh3 18. Kxh3 g5 and Black announced mate in 10; it can be done quicker.

12... Qe1+

0-1

Event information: Tournament report.

Note: The information for the Mikyska - Traxler game is from UltraCorr-X database (Tim Harding), citing Historie Korespondenčního Šachu, 1870-1999, Jan Kalendovský, Rudolf Ševeček, Prague: Koršach 1999. David McAlister (email, February 2, 2022) adds “I can remember [Cootes] telling me (probably sometimes in the 1970s) that he had memorised a great many short games/decisive opening lines - I think he had these copied into a notebook (maybe more than one) so my guess is that he was well aware of the history of the variation.”