Fork: rook to e8 (e1)
li-01Vfjnaming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1371 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, queen d1, rook a1 e1, knight b5, pawn a2 b2 f2 g2 h2 c3.
Black: king g7, queen d8, rook a8 e8, bishop f6, pawn d5 g6 a7 b7 f7 h7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 16.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 28 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g7.
It is White to move on move 16, with 41 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
16. Rxe8 Qxe8 17. Nc7 Qc6 18. Nxa8
Why it works
- Great move! rook to e8 keeps the pressure (+4.0).
- Well found: knight to c7 (+3.9).
- Strong! knight to a8 is the sharp choice (+4.1).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Qxe8, then Nc7 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 16. Rxe8 — rook to e8 (capture)
- Qxe8 — queen to e8 (capture)
- 17. Nc7 — knight to c7
- Qc6 — queen to c6
- 18. Nxa8 — knight to a8 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Knight fork
One knight move attacks two targets at once — the opponent can only save one.
A fork is one move that attacks two targets at once, and no piece forks better than the knight. Look through the knight's eyes: it jumps in an L and never moves along straight lines, which is exactly why its threats get missed. Both victims of a knight fork always stand on squares of one color, while the knight strikes from the opposite color. Hunt for the square from which the knight hits the king and a heavy piece at once.
Decoy
A sacrifice lures the king or a piece onto a fatal square.
A decoy is the mirror image of deflection: you sacrifice to drag the king or a piece onto a fatal square. The classic is a queen or rook sac whose capture pulls the king into a knight fork, a discovered check or mate. Find the square where the target will be hit, then find the offer it cannot refuse. Calculate to the very end — a decoy only works when the follow-up is forced.
Overload
One defender guards two things — it cannot do both jobs.
Overloading exploits a defender with two jobs at once — guarding a piece and covering a mating square, for instance. It cannot do both: your first strike forces it to handle one duty and abandon the other. Find the overworked piece by asking what happens to each of its charges if it gets distracted. Then hit one target and collect the other — an overloaded defender only pretends to defend.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 010
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads