Fork: rook to b1
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1407 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
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 h6, rook a5, knight f3, pawn f2 g2 h3 d4.
Black: king g8, queen e7, rook b2, knight f8, pawn d5 g6 h7.
8 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 28.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (21 against 20; 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 g8.
It is Black to move on move 28, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, b, c, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: f.
The Black king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
28... Rb1+ 29. Kh2 Qc7+ 30. Ne5 Qxa5
Why it works
- Great move! rook to b1 keeps the pressure (+3.6).
- Well found: queen to c7 (+3.6).
- Strong! queen to a5 is the sharp choice (+3.6).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kh2, then Qc7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 28… Rb1+ — rook to b1 with check
- 29. Kh2 — king to h2
- Qc7+ — queen to c7 with check
- 30. Ne5 — knight to e5
- Qxa5 — queen to a5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Royal fork
A fork with check: the king must move, and the second piece is lost.
A royal fork is a fork with check — one of the two targets is the king itself. The check must be answered first, so nobody is left to rescue the second piece. Look for squares where your piece gives check and simultaneously attacks an undefended queen or rook. It is the most reliable fork of all, because your opponent literally has no choice.
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 010
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