Fork: bishop to f3 (g4)
li-0HcuLnaming 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 2071 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 c2, rook d1 e1, bishop g2 c3, knight f3, pawn b2 f2 h2 d3 g3 a4 e4.
Black: king c8, queen c5, rook d8 h8, bishop g4, knight c6 g8, pawn e5 f5 a7 b7 c7 g7 h7.
14 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 15.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 35 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on c8.
It is Black to move on move 15, with 44 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 7. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for Black: d.
White hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. 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
15... Bxf3 16. Bxf3 Nd4 17. Bxd4 Qxc2
Why it works
- Brilliant! The bishop on f3 is a sacrifice that works — you stand better (+2.8).
- Well found: knight to d4 (+3.1).
- Strong! queen to c2 is the sharp choice (+3.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Bxf3, then Nd4 and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 15… Bxf3 — bishop to f3 (capture)
- 16. Bxf3 — bishop to f3 (capture)
- Nd4 — knight to d4
- 17. Bxd4 — bishop to d4 (capture)
- Qxc2 — queen to c2 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Knight fork
One knight move attacks two targets at once — the opponent can only save one.
A fork is one move that attacks two targets at once, and no piece forks better than the knight. Look through the knight's eyes: it jumps in an L and never moves along straight lines, which is exactly why its threats get missed. Both victims of a knight fork always stand on squares of one color, while the knight strikes from the opposite color. Hunt for the square from which the knight hits the king and a heavy piece at once.
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).
Pack 015
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