Fork: rook to e1 (e8·2)
li-0FuUqnaming 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 2051 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 g1, queen f3, rook a1 e1, knight c5, pawn a2 b2 c2 f2 g2 h2 d3.
Black: king g8, queen b7, rook a8 e8, knight d5, pawn d4 c6 a7 f7 g7 h7.
12 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 19.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (29 against 28; 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 g8.
It is Black to move on move 19, with 43 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: b.
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
19... Rxe1+ 20. Rxe1 Qb4 21. Re2 Qxc5
Why it works
- Great move! rook to e1 keeps the pressure (+3.9).
- Well found: queen to b4 (+3.8).
- Strong! queen to c5 is the sharp choice (+3.9).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Rxe1, then Qb4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 19… Rxe1+ — rook to e1 (capture) with check
- 20. Rxe1 — rook to e1 (capture)
- Qb4 — queen to b4
- 21. Re2 — rook to e2
- Qxc5 — queen to c5 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
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.
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 014
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