Final position — White is winning
King's Knight Opening: Wins a Pawn (Mikhailtal–Wall)
White wins in 8 moves with a decisive material gain. (Mikhailtal - Wall, Internet 1996)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | d5 |
| 3. | exd5 | e4 |
| 4. | Qe2 | Qe7 |
| 5. | Nd4 | Nf6 |
| 6. | Qb5+ | Nbd7 |
| 7. | Nc3 | Qe5 |
| 8. | Qc4 | Nb6 |
How the King's Knight Opening: Wins a Pawn (Mikhailtal–Wall) works
The King's Knight Opening: Wins a Pawn (Mikhailtal–Wall) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's knight opening. In this line White wins decisive material by move 8, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 e4 4.Qe2 Qe7 5.Nd4 Nf6 6.Qb5+ Nbd7 7.Nc3 Qe5 8.Qc4 Nb6. 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 (Mikhailtal - Wall, Internet 1996). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the King's Knight Opening: Wins a Pawn (Mikhailtal–Wall) 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.