Fork: bishop to g5 (h6)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1588 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
White 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 g1, rook a1 d1, bishop c4 h6, knight c3 g7, pawn a2 b2 c2 f2 d3 e4.
Black: king d8, queen h3, rook a8 h8, bishop c5, pawn e5 d6 g6 a7 b7 c7 h7.
13 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (28 against 29; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on d8.
It is White to move on move 18, with 33 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 7. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: g, h.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The White king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
18. Bg5+ Kd7 19. Be6+ Qxe6 20. Nxe6
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to g5 keeps the pressure (+4.1).
- Well found: bishop to e6 (+3.8).
- Strong! knight to e6 is the sharp choice (+3.8).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kd7, then Be6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 18. Bg5+ — bishop to g5 with check
- Kd7 — king to d7
- 19. Be6+ — bishop to e6 with check
- Qxe6 — queen to e6 (capture)
- 20. Nxe6 — knight to e6 (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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 011
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