Fork: bishop to c3
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1580 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 c1, queen d2, rook d1 h1, bishop e2, knight c3 g5, pawn b2 c2 g2 d3 e4 h4.
Black: king c8, queen d7, rook d8 h8, bishop f6 b7, knight b4, pawn h5 a6 d6 e6 g6 c7.
13 white and 13 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 19.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 34 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on c1, the black king on c8.
It is Black to move on move 19, with 37 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: b.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The Black king has 1 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
19... Bxc3 20. Qxc3 Na2+ 21. Kd2 Nxc3
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to c3 keeps the pressure (+4.5).
- Well found: knight to a2 (+4.4).
- Strong! knight to c3 is the sharp choice (+4.7).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxc3, then Na2+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 19… Bxc3 — bishop to c3 (capture)
- 20. Qxc3 — queen to c3 (capture)
- Na2+ — knight to a2 with check
- 21. Kd2 — king to d2
- Nxc3 — knight to c3 (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.
Decoy
A sacrifice lures the king or a piece onto a fatal square.
A decoy is the mirror image of deflection: you sacrifice to drag the king or a piece onto a fatal square. The classic is a queen or rook sac whose capture pulls the king into a knight fork, a discovered check or mate. Find the square where the target will be hit, then find the offer it cannot refuse. Calculate to the very end — a decoy only works when the follow-up is forced.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 011
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