Fork: rook to g2 (g6)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2117 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A fork is one piece attacking two targets at once. Look for a knight, pawn or queen move that lands where it hits the king (or a bigger piece) and a second undefended unit on the same turn — the opponent can save only one.
General method: before you move, list the forcing candidates — every check, every capture, every direct threat — and calculate those first. The solution to a tactic is almost always among them.
Position on the board
White: king e2, queen c2, bishop a3, knight g1, pawn a2 c3 e4 c6.
Black: king g8, rook g6 a8, pawn a7 b7 c7 h7.
8 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 5 points of material (19 against 14; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on e2, the black king on g8.
It is Black to move on move 31, with 26 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: e.
The Black king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
31... Rg2+ 32. Kd3 Rd8+ 33. Kc4 Rxc2
Why it works
- Great move! rook to g2 keeps the pressure (+4.3).
- Well found: rook to d8 (+4.3).
- Strong! rook to c2 is the sharp choice (+4.4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kd3, then Rd8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31… Rg2+ — rook to g2 with check
- 32. Kd3 — king to d3
- Rd8+ — rook to d8 with check
- 33. Kc4 — king to c4
- Rxc2 — rook to c2 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 015
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