Final position — White is winning
Queen's Pawn Game: White Queen Trap
White wins in 9 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wall - Robison, Los Angeles 1969)
The moves
| 1. | d4 | d5 |
| 2. | e4 | dxe4 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Nc6 |
| 4. | d5 | Ne5 |
| 5. | Qd4 | Ng6 |
| 6. | Bb5+ | c6 |
| 7. | dxc6 | Qxd4 |
| 8. | cxb7+ | Kd8 |
| 9. | bxa8=Q |
How the Queen's Pawn Game: White Queen Trap works
The Queen's Pawn Game: White Queen Trap is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Queen's pawn game. In this line White wins decisive material by move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d5 Ne5 5.Qd4 Ng6 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 Qxd4 8.cxb7+ Kd8 9.bxa8=Q. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — Black walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Wall - Robison, Los Angeles 1969). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Queen's Pawn Game: White Queen Trap in the Trapsterapp to play it out on a live board, drill it in practice mode, and learn how to avoid it when it's set for you — along with the full library of chess traps and gambits, fully offline.