Fork: queen to e4
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1012 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 g2, queen e2, rook b1 a2, pawn f2 h2 c3 e3 g3 a4 d4.
Black: king g8, queen e6, rook c8 d8, pawn c4 c5 a6 b6 g6 h6 f7.
11 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 26.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 26 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g2, the black king on g8.
It is Black to move on move 26, with 34 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 7. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for Black: d, e.
The Black king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
26... Qe4+ 27. f3 Qxb1
Why it works
- Great move! queen to e4 keeps the pressure (+4.9).
- Well found: queen to b1 (+5.2).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead f3, then Qxb1 and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 26… Qe4+ — queen to e4 with check
- 27. f3 — pawn to f3
- Qxb1 — queen to b1 (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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 006
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