Final position — White is winning
Centre Game: Black Queen Trap (Wall–Davidson)
White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wall - Davidson, Hickory, NC 1975)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | d4 | exd4 |
| 3. | Qxd4 | Nc6 |
| 4. | Qa4 | Qe7 |
| 5. | Nc3 | Nf6 |
| 6. | Bg5 | d5 |
| 7. | O-O-O | dxe4 |
| 8. | Nxe4 | Qxe4 |
| 9. | Rd8+ | Kxd8 |
| 10. | Qxe4 |
How the Centre Game: Black Queen Trap (Wall–Davidson) works
The Centre Game: Black Queen Trap (Wall–Davidson) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Centre Game. In this line White wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qa4 Qe7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Bg5 d5 7.O-O-O dxe4 8.Nxe4 Qxe4 9.Rd8+ Kxd8 10.Qxe4. 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 - Davidson, Hickory, NC 1975). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Centre Game: Black Queen Trap (Wall–Davidson) 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.