Fork: queen to d3 (e3·2)
li-0Gk7znaming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Deflection: force the defender to abandon its post.
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1865 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
Deflection drags a defender away from its duty. Identify the enemy piece that guards a key square or mate, then force it to move — with a check, a capture or a threat it must answer — and strike where it no longer defends.
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 g2, queen e3, rook f1, knight h2 f3, pawn f2 h3 g4.
Black: king d7, queen c3, rook g8, knight d3 d5, pawn h4 e5 g5 e6 c7.
8 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 29.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (23 against 25; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g2, the black king on d7.
It is White to move on move 29, with 29 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, b, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, e.
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
29. Qxd3 Qxd3 30. Nxe5+ Kd6 31. Nxd3
Why it works
- Great move! queen to d3 keeps the pressure (+3.5).
- Well found: knight to e5 (+3.3).
- Strong! knight to d3 is the sharp choice (+3.4).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxd3, then Nxe5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 29. Qxd3 — queen to d3 (capture)
- Qxd3 — queen to d3 (capture)
- 30. Nxe5+ — knight to e5 (capture) with check
- Kd6 — king to d6
- 31. Nxd3 — knight to d3 (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.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 014
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