Fork: rook to c3 (c1)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2145 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 g1, queen f4, rook c1 f1, knight g4, pawn f2 a3 c4 e4 d5.
Black: king g8, queen h3, rook e8 f8, bishop c3, knight c5, pawn b6 d6 a7 f7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 25.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 2 points of material (27 against 29; 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 White to move on move 25, with 28 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): g, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: b.
The White king has 0 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
25. Rxc3 Qxc3 26. Nf6+ Qxf6 27. Qxf6
Why it works
- Great move! rook to c3 keeps the pressure (+3.6).
- Well found: knight to f6 (+4.8).
- Strong! queen to f6 is the sharp choice (+5.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxc3, then Nf6+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 25. Rxc3 — rook to c3 (capture)
- Qxc3 — queen to c3 (capture)
- 26. Nf6+ — knight to f6 with check
- Qxf6 — queen to f6 (capture)
- 27. Qxf6 — queen to f6 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Sacrifice attack
Give up material to unleash a decisive attack.
A sacrificial attack gives up material on purpose to rip the king's shelter open and launch a decisive assault. The sac is sound when you get concrete assets in return: open lines to the king, tempi, pieces ready to pour in. The signs: a poorly sheltered king, your forces aimed at its home, defenders stranded far away. The iron rule is to calculate, not hope — once the material is gone, there is no way back.
Remove the defender
Capture the guard first — then take what it protected.
Removing the defender is the straightforward plan: capture the guard first, then take what it guarded. Unlike deflection, the defender is not lured away — it is traded off or destroyed on the spot. Stare at the target you crave and ask who defends it, and whether that defender can be profitably eaten. Count the whole capture sequence, not just the first move — the trade must pay off at the end.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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