Fork: knight to d6
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 858 ShuffleRating — for beginners taking their first steps in Chess960 tactics.
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 c1, bishop g5 c6, knight e4, pawn a2 f2 g2 h2.
Black: king f7, rook b2 c8, bishop a6 g7, knight f6, pawn c3 e6 g6 a7 h7.
10 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 21.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (23 against 24; 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 f7.
It is White to move on move 21, with 35 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): b, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, e.
The White king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
21. Nd6+ Kg8 22. Nxc8
Why it works
- Great move! knight to d6 keeps the pressure (+2.3).
- A brilliant blow: knight to c8, and you stand better (+2.4).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kg8, then Nxc8 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 21. Nd6+ — knight to d6 with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 22. Nxc8 — knight to c8 (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.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 004
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