Final position — Black is winning
Caro-Kann Defence: Wins a Piece
Black wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Nunn - Georgiev, Linares 1988)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | c6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | Nc3 | dxe4 |
| 4. | Nxe4 | Nd7 |
| 5. | Ng5 | h6 |
| 6. | Ne6 | Qa5+ |
| 7. | Bd2 | Qb6 |
| 8. | Bd3 | fxe6 |
| 9. | Qh5+ | Kd8 |
| 10. | Ba5 |
How the Caro-Kann Defence: Wins a Piece works
The Caro-Kann Defence: Wins a Piece is a classic chess opening trap arising from the Caro-Kann Defence. In this line Black wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 h6 6.Ne6 Qa5+ 7.Bd2 Qb6 8.Bd3 fxe6 9.Qh5+ Kd8 10.Ba5. 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 (Nunn - Georgiev, Linares 1988). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Caro-Kann Defence: Wins a Piece 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.