Fork: queen to a6
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1521 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 b2, queen f1, rook d2, knight b1, pawn a2 c2 h2 b3 g3.
Black: king c6, queen e3, rook f8, bishop f3 f6, pawn g4 c5 e5 d6 a7.
9 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 33.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 3 points of material (22 against 25; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b2, the black king on c6.
It is White to move on move 33, with 34 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d, e.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
33. Qa6+ Kc7 34. Qxd6+ Kb7 35. Qxf8
Why it works
- Great move! queen to a6 keeps the pressure (+7.3).
- Well found: queen to d6 (+7.5).
- Strong! queen to f8 is the sharp choice (+7.8).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kc7, then Qxd6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 33. Qa6+ — queen to a6 with check
- Kc7 — king to c7
- 34. Qxd6+ — queen to d6 (capture) with check
- Kb7 — king to b7
- 35. Qxf8 — queen to f8 (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.
Skewer
A line attack forces the valuable piece to move, exposing the one behind it.
A skewer is a pin turned inside out: the valuable piece stands in front and something cheaper hides behind it. The big piece must step aside, and you collect the one that was sheltering in its shadow. Scan for the enemy king or queen sharing a file, rank or diagonal with another enemy piece. The deadliest version comes with check — the king moves, the rook behind it dies.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 011
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