Fork: queen to d5 (d1·2)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2218 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 g1, queen d1, rook a1 e5, bishop c1, pawn a2 g2 h2 f3.
Black: king g8, queen c3, rook f6 a8, bishop f5, pawn a6 c7 g7 h7.
9 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 20.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 26 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 20, with 43 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): b, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
20. Qd5+ Be6 21. Rxe6 Rxe6 22. Qxe6+
Why it works
- Great move! queen to d5 keeps the pressure (+5.3).
- Well found: rook to e6 (+5.5).
- Strong! queen to e6 is the sharp choice (+5.5).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Be6, then Rxe6 and you win the bishop.
Move by move
- 20. Qd5+ — queen to d5 with check
- Be6 — bishop to e6
- 21. Rxe6 — rook to e6 (capture)
- Rxe6 — rook to e6 (capture)
- 22. Qxe6+ — queen to e6 (capture) with check
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.
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.
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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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