What Is a Poisoned Pawn?

"A poisoned pawn is one that looks like it can be won freely, but in fact cannot be captured without suffering consequences."

An example: Yesterday I was losing a chess game because of a dumb mistake I made. As usual I looked for a way to win despite the odds. Instead of defending one of my pawns I made a move that would kill his king if my opponent took my free pawn. Fortunately he made the mistake I was hoping for. He took my poisoned pawn. My next move was a surprise. I threatened checkmate in 2 moves and there was nothing he could do to save the game he was winning.

When an opponent does not defend a pawn, it's wrong to assume he or she made a mistake. It could be a poisoned pawn.

This is the game I won. I had the white pieces. https://lichess.org/RuxFJaGg/white#0

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