Fork: queen to d4 (b4)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1288 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 b4, bishop c7, pawn f2 g2 a3 h3.
Black: king g7, queen d4, rook d5, pawn a4 b5 g5 h6 f7.
7 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 40.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (16 against 19; 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 g7.
It is White to move on move 40, with 30 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
40. Qxd4+ Rxd4 41. Be5+ Kg6 42. Bxd4
Why it works
- Great move! queen to d4 keeps the pressure (+4.2).
- Well found: bishop to e5 (+4.5).
- Strong! bishop to d4 is the sharp choice (+4.8).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Rxd4, then Be5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 40. Qxd4+ — queen to d4 (capture) with check
- Rxd4 — rook to d4 (capture)
- 41. Be5+ — bishop to e5 with check
- Kg6 — king to g6
- 42. Bxd4 — bishop to d4 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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.
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.
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 009
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