Let {F n : n 1} be a normalized sequence of random variables in some fixed Wiener chaos associated with a general Gaussian field, and assume that, where N is a standard Gaussian random variable. Our main result is the following general bound: there exist two finite constants c, C > 0 such that, for n sufficiently large,|, and h runs over the class of all real functions with a second derivative bounded by 1. This shows that the deterministic sequence max, n 1, completely characterizes the rate of convergence (with respect to smooth distances) in CLTs involving chaotic random variables. These results are used to determine optimal rates of convergence in the Breuer-Major central limit theorem, with specific emphasis on fractional Gaussian noise.