Fork: knight to f8 (g6)
li-0FVDSnaming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2179 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 f5, rook f1, knight g6, pawn a2 b2 g2 c3 d4 h4.
Black: king b8, queen b6, rook e6 e8, pawn h5 c6 a7 b7.
10 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 27.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 23 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on h1, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 27, with 44 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, f — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
27. Nf8 Rd6 28. Nd7+ Rxd7 29. Qxd7
Why it works
- Great move! knight to f8 keeps the pressure (+4.6).
- Well found: knight to d7 (+4.5).
- Strong! queen to d7 is the sharp choice (+4.7).
- You reach a winning position (+4.7).
- If instead Rd6, then Nd7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 27. Nf8 — knight to f8
- Rd6 — rook to d6
- 28. Nd7+ — knight to d7 with check
- Rxd7 — rook to d7 (capture)
- 29. Qxd7 — queen to d7 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads