Fork: bishop to c3 (b4)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2340 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 g1, queen g6, rook a1 f1, bishop d6, knight e2 c3, pawn b2 c2 f2 g2 a3 d4 h4.
Black: king g8, queen a5, rook a8 h8, bishop b4, knight f6 d7, pawn c5 d5 h5 e6 a7 b7 g7.
14 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 15.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 35 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 g8.
It is Black to move on move 15, with 30 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 7. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for Black: f.
The Black king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
15... Bxc3 16. bxc3 Qa6 17. dxc5 Qxe2
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to c3 keeps the pressure (+1.7).
- Well found: queen to a6 (+3.2).
- Strong! queen to e2 is the sharp choice (+2.9).
- You reach a winning position (+2.9).
- If instead bxc3, then Qa6 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 15… Bxc3 — bishop to c3 (capture)
- 16. bxc3 — pawn to c3 (capture)
- Qa6 — queen to a6
- 17. dxc5 — pawn to c5 (capture)
- Qxe2 — queen to e2 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Queen fork
The queen lands on a square from which it attacks two targets at once.
The queen strikes along files, ranks and diagonals, so she forks more often than any other piece. Look for a square where the queen attacks two undefended targets at once — most often a check combined with a loose piece. Diagonal blows are especially venomous: a slanting check that also eyes a rook in the corner is the classic of the genre. Remember that both targets must be unprotected, or your «fork» is just a shot into the air.
Relative pin
A piece shields a more valuable one behind it — moving it loses material.
In a relative pin the piece shields not its king but something valuable behind it, usually the queen. Moving is legal but costly, because the piece behind falls. Look for three units on one line: your long-range piece, a cheaper enemy piece, and an expensive one hiding behind. Beware the classic trap — a relatively pinned piece can still move with check or a bigger threat, so verify before you cash in.
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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