Fork: rook to h5
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1758 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 d1, rook d3 h4, bishop d2 h5, pawn a2 f2 b3.
Black: king f7, rook b5 d7, bishop b6 e6, pawn d4 a6 f6.
8 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 40.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 19 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on d1, the black king on f7.
It is Black to move on move 40, with 5 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle. Black are in check right now, so every reply must answer the check.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, e, g, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: b.
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
40... Rxh5 41. Rxh5 Bg4+ 42. f3 Bxh5
Why it works
- Great move! rook to h5 keeps the pressure (+4.9).
- Well found: bishop to g4 (+4.7).
- Strong! bishop to h5 is the sharp choice (+4.7).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Rxh5, then Bg4+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 40… Rxh5 — rook to h5 (capture)
- 41. Rxh5 — rook to h5 (capture)
- Bg4+ — bishop to g4 with check
- 42. f3 — pawn to f3
- Bxh5 — bishop to h5 (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.
Winning exchange
A forced series of captures on one square ends in your favour.
A winning exchange is a forced series of captures on one square that leaves you ahead in material. It is pure arithmetic: count the attackers and defenders of the square and note the value of every piece in the queue. Capture in the right order — cheap pieces first, expensive ones later — or a winning trade turns into a losing one. The classic error is stopping the count halfway and missing the opponent's final recapture.
Sacrifice attack
Give up material to unleash a decisive attack.
A sacrificial attack gives up material on purpose to rip the king's shelter open and launch a decisive assault. The sac is sound when you get concrete assets in return: open lines to the king, tempi, pieces ready to pour in. The signs: a poorly sheltered king, your forces aimed at its home, defenders stranded far away. The iron rule is to calculate, not hope — once the material is gone, there is no way back.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 013
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