Final position — White is winning
Caro-Kann Defence: Wins a Pawn
White wins in 6 moves with a decisive material gain. (Dubois - Coudray, Paris 1989)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | c6 |
| 2. | c4 | d5 |
| 3. | cxd5 | cxd5 |
| 4. | exd5 | Nf6 |
| 5. | Qa4+ | Qd7 |
| 6. | Bb5 |
How the Caro-Kann Defence: Wins a Pawn works
The Caro-Kann Defence: Wins a Pawn is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Caro-Kann Defence. In this line White wins decisive material by move 6, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 c6 2.c4 d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Qa4+ Qd7 6.Bb5. 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 (Dubois - Coudray, Paris 1989). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Caro-Kann Defence: Wins a Pawn 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.