Fork: rook to g7 (g3)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2129 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 d2, rook g3, knight d4, pawn b2 f2 a3.
Black: king h7, queen h4, rook f8, knight d3, pawn c4 h5 f6 f7.
7 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 32.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 1 points of material (20 against 21; 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 h7.
It is White to move on move 32, with 38 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 3 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d, e, g — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: c, h.
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
32. Rg7+ Kxg7 33. Nf5+ Kg8 34. Nxh4
Why it works
- Great move! rook to g7 keeps the pressure (+5.0).
- Well found: knight to f5 (+5.0).
- Strong! knight to h4 is the sharp choice (+5.0).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kxg7, then Nf5+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 32. Rg7+ — rook to g7 with check
- Kxg7 — king to g7 (capture)
- 33. Nf5+ — knight to f5 with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 34. Nxh4 — knight to h4 (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.
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.
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.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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