Fork: knight to c3 (e4·2)
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The tactical motive
Discovered attack: one piece steps aside, unleashing another's attack.
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1178 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A discovered attack fires when one piece steps aside and unmasks the piece behind it. Look for your own units that block a rook, bishop or queen: moving the front piece — ideally with a threat of its own — springs two attacks in one move.
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 e2, rook a4, bishop g5, pawn h4.
Black: king e6, rook b3, knight e4, pawn h5.
4 white and 4 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 54.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 9 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on e2, the black king on e6.
It is Black to move on move 54, with 28 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 1 pawns, Black 1. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, b, c, d, e, f, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The Black king has 6 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
54... Nc3+ 55. Kd3 Nxa4+
Why it works
- Great move! knight to c3 keeps the pressure (+5.2).
- Well found: knight to a4 (+5.5).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kd3, then Nxa4+ and you win the rook.
Move by move
- 54… Nc3+ — knight to c3 with check
- 55. Kd3 — king to d3
- Nxa4+ — knight to a4 (capture) with check
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.
Endgame tactic
Tactics live in the endgame too — strike while material is scarce.
Tactics do not retire when the queens come off: forks, pins and double attacks live on in the endgame. With so little material left, every tactical loss is almost always decisive. The signs are the usual ones — undefended pieces, king and piece on one line, a pawn about to promote. Even in a "technical" ending, scan for a shot before every move, both yours and your opponent's.
Discovered check
The moving piece opens a check — and is free to grab anything meanwhile.
With a discovered check the moving piece unmasks a check from the piece standing behind it. While the king deals with the check, the piece that moved grabs whatever it likes, free of charge. Look for your long-range piece on a line with the enemy king, with exactly one of your own pieces in between. The rule: among all the ways to step aside, pick the one that captures or attacks the most expensive loot.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 007
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