Fork: queen to f8 (e7)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Pin: a piece can't move without exposing something more valuable behind it.
Difficulty 2280 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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.
A pin freezes a piece in front of a more valuable one behind it. Scan the ranks, files and diagonals your bishop, rook or queen controls: if an enemy piece cannot move without exposing its king or queen, it is pinned and can be piled on or bypassed.
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 e7, rook a1 e1, bishop b3, knight c3 d8, pawn a2 b2 f2 h2.
Black: king g8, queen f4, rook a8 f8, bishop g2, knight c4 f6, pawn b5 a6 g7 h7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 32 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 White to move on move 18, with 51 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: g.
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
18. Qxf8+ Kxf8 19. Ne6+ Kg8 20. Nxf4
Why it works
- Great move! queen to f8 keeps the pressure (+5.8).
- Well found: knight to e6 (+5.7).
- Strong! knight to f4 is the sharp choice (+5.8).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kxf8, then Ne6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 18. Qxf8+ — queen to f8 (capture) with check
- Kxf8 — king to f8 (capture)
- 19. Ne6+ — knight to e6 with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 20. Nxf4 — knight to f4 (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.
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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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