The Caro Kann has a reputation as a reliable but dull defence. However, White has to be alert to the dangerous tactics that can be employed by Black. In 5 minute chess, positions cannot be evaluated in detail. Natural moves can lead to disaster. The two examples are taken from games played on the Instantchess server.

Bishop forked
Caro-Kann Defence Forgacs Variation
ECO B15

The purpose of 6…Qe7+ is positional rather than to create a trap. The king’s bishop is to be placed on g7 or h6. This schema was originated by Bronstein and propagated by Bob Wade. The trap works because White is not expecting the Queen to move a second time and is found occasionally in submaster tournament play. John Carleton was alert to it in his game against Raymond Keene in the 1978 British Team Championships. The trap is also mentioned in Graham Burgess’s excellent Mammoth Book of Chess

Discovered mate

Caro-Kann Defence Advance Variation
ECO B15

The conditions required for this mating coup are (i) control of the diagonal to g1 – by queen or bishop (ii) control of the h file by the uncastled rook on which the white king is placed (iii) a knight that can jump to g3 – from e4 or f5. White often misses this formation and is surprised to be mated. Possibly this is because the requisite h4 move is mistakenly regarded as having the sole purposed preventing white from attempting to drive away the knight by pushing the g-pawn. This mate is always lurking and can arise in different sequences of play.

A brilliant extension of this attack by Julian Way.

The original Caro Kann opening trap by its creator Marcus Kann.