Fork: bishop to g2 (c6)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2379 ShuffleRating — expert level — few solve it at first try.
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 h1, queen d4, rook a1, bishop c3 c4, knight h2, pawn a2 c2 g2 h3 c5.
Black: king h7, queen h5, rook e8, bishop f4 c6, pawn g4 f5 a7 b7 c7.
11 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 30.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (28 against 25; 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 h7.
It is Black to move on move 30, with 44 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: h.
The Black king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
30... Bxg2+ 31. Kg1 Be3+ 32. Qxe3 Rxe3
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to g2 keeps the pressure (+5.7).
- Well found: bishop to e3 (+6.1).
- Strong! rook to e3 is the sharp choice (+6.4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kg1, then Be3+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 30… Bxg2+ — bishop to g2 (capture) with check
- 31. Kg1 — king to g1
- Be3+ — bishop to e3 with check
- 32. Qxe3 — queen to e3 (capture)
- Rxe3 — rook to e3 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
Mate defense
Mate is threatened — parry it and stay on top.
Mate defense: your opponent is one move from mating you — but it is your turn, and that changes everything. Find the defense that kills the mating threat while keeping your advantage: often a check or a counter-threat that leaves no time for the mate. First name the exact square where the mate would land — otherwise you are defending blind. The mistake is playing a "defensive" move that does not actually remove the threat.
Counter-strike
Don't defend — answer the threat with a bigger one.
The counter-strike: instead of defending against the threat, you answer with a bigger threat of your own. While your opponent grabs a pawn, you deliver mate — the arithmetic favors you. Look for a counter when direct defenses fail: do you have a check, an attack on the queen, a mating threat? The beginner's error is meeting every threat with a reflexive defense without checking the counterattacking resources first.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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