Fork: queen to e7
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2107 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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 h1, queen c5, rook e2 g2, pawn a2 b2 f2 h2 d3 c4.
Black: king g7, queen h6, rook f6 b8, knight b6, pawn d4 a6 c6 g6.
10 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (25 against 26; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on h1, the black king on g7.
It is White to move on move 31, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: 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
31. Qe7+ Rf7 32. Qe5+ Kh7 33. Qxb8
Why it works
- Great move! queen to e7 keeps the pressure (+4.9).
- Well found: queen to e5 (+4.8).
- Strong! queen to b8 is the sharp choice (+5.0).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Rf7, then Qe5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31. Qe7+ — queen to e7 with check
- Rf7 — rook to f7
- 32. Qe5+ — queen to e5 with check
- Kh7 — king to h7
- 33. Qxb8 — queen to b8 (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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Verified by Stockfish at depth 20+.
Solution forcedness confirmed (verified).
Pack 015
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