Fork: rook to e2 (g2)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1482 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 h2, rook g2, bishop f3, pawn b3.
Black: king e5, queen e1, pawn g5 a6.
4 white and 4 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 58.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (9 against 11; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h2, the black king on e5.
It is White to move on move 58, with 21 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 1 pawns, Black 2. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d, e, f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: a, 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
58. Re2+ Qxe2+ 59. Bxe2
Why it works
- Great move! rook to e2 keeps the pressure (+5.3).
- Well found: bishop to e2 (+6.1).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxe2+, then Bxe2 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 58. Re2+ — rook to e2 with check
- Qxe2+ — queen to e2 (capture) with check
- 59. Bxe2 — bishop to e2 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
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.
Queen endgame
Queens on an open board — precision above all.
Queen endgames are treacherous: the queen reaches everywhere, and one slip turns a win into perpetual check. The signs are few pawns, exposed kings, and checks hanging in the air. Tuck your king away early, and use your own checks to bring the queen closer or push your passer with tempo. The typical mistake is grabbing pawns while leaving your king exposed to endless checks.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 011
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