Fork: bishop to d5 (e6)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1807 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 g1, queen g3, rook a1 f1, bishop c4, knight d5, pawn a2 c2 g2 h2 b3 f4 f7.
Black: king h8, queen f6, rook a8 f8, bishop e6, knight h7, pawn c5 d6 h6 a7 b7 g7.
13 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 18.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (32 against 31; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on h8.
It is Black to move on move 18, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: f.
The Black king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
18... Bxd5 19. Bxd5 Qd4+ 20. Kh1 Qxd5
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to d5 keeps the pressure (+4.6).
- Well found: queen to d4 (+4.5).
- Strong! queen to d5 is the sharp choice (+4.5).
- You win a piece — the bishop.
- If instead Bxd5, then Qd4+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 18… Bxd5 — bishop to d5 (capture)
- 19. Bxd5 — bishop to d5 (capture)
- Qd4+ — queen to d4 with check
- 20. Kh1 — king to h1
- Qxd5 — queen to d5 (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 013
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