Dinic Gambit Trap
The Dinic Gambit Trap in the Caro-Kann: after 3.d3 dxe4 4.Ng5 exd3 5.Bxd3, both 5...h6?? and 5...Nf6?? lose the queen to Nxf7 and Bg6+.
White gives a pawn with 3.d3 and jumps to g5. The gambit is not sound, but the punishment for one careless move is a lost queen. It is the Caro-Kann cousin of the Tennison Gambit.
How the Dinic Gambit Trap works
Click a card to see it on the board, then play the punishment yourself.
How often does it work?
Counted in real rated Lichess games, not estimated.
| Rating | Reached the position | Played 5...h6? | Fall rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1200–1400 | 55 games | 6 | 11% |
| 1500–1700 | 109 games | 28 | 26% |
| 1900–2100 | 153 games | 12 | 8% |
Sample: up to 1,000,000 rated Lichess games per rating band (May 2024), same move order only.
Among players rated 1800 and higher, 5...h6? was played in 1,659 of the games our puzzles are drawn from. Strong players fall for it too.
How to avoid the Dinic Gambit Trap
What Black should play instead.
Other versions of the trap
The same idea from a different move order.
Now spot it in a real game
Knowing a trap by name is not the same as seeing it at the board. Solve positions from real games until the pattern fires by itself.
Dinic Gambit Trap
Getting there…5...h6 tries to push the knight away, but it does not go back. 6.Nxf7! Kxf7 7.Bg6+! and the bishop leaves the d-file with check, so after 7...Kxg6 8.Qxd8 the queen falls.