Final position — Black is winning
King's Pawn Opening: Black Queen Trap (Wallwork–Thornton)
Black wins in 13 moves with a decisive material gain. (Wallwork - Thornton, England 1989)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | g5 |
| 2. | d4 | h6 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Bg7 |
| 4. | h4 | gxh4 |
| 5. | Nf3 | d6 |
| 6. | Nxh4 | Nf6 |
| 7. | Bf4 | c6 |
| 8. | Qd2 | Ng4 |
| 9. | O-O-O | Qa5 |
| 10. | Bc4 | b5 |
| 11. | Nxb5 | Qxd2+ |
| 12. | Rxd2 | cxb5 |
| 13. | Bd5 |
How the King's Pawn Opening: Black Queen Trap (Wallwork–Thornton) works
The King's Pawn Opening: Black Queen Trap (Wallwork–Thornton) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn opening. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 13, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 g5 2.d4 h6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.h4 gxh4 5.Nf3 d6 6.Nxh4 Nf6 7.Bf4 c6 8.Qd2 Ng4 9.O-O-O Qa5 10.Bc4 b5 11.Nxb5 Qxd2+ 12.Rxd2 cxb5 13.Bd5. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — White walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Wallwork - Thornton, England 1989). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the King's Pawn Opening: Black Queen Trap (Wallwork–Thornton) 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.