Fork: pawn to d2
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2359 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 b1, queen e3, rook d7, pawn b2 f2 b3 c4 f6.
Black: king a7, queen c5, rook b6, pawn d3 a6 d6 b7.
8 white and 7 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 35.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (19 against 18; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on a7.
It is Black to move on move 35, with 24 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): e, g, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: c, f.
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
35... d2 36. Kc2 Qf5+ 37. Kxd2 Qxd7
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to d2 keeps the pressure (+3.8).
- Well found: queen to f5 (+4.4).
- Strong! queen to d7 is the sharp choice (+4.7).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Kc2, then Qf5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 35… d2 — pawn to d2
- 36. Kc2 — king to c2
- Qf5+ — queen to f5 with check
- 37. Kxd2 — king to d2 (capture)
- Qxd7 — queen to d7 (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.
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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