Fork: bishop to c5 (e7·2)
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The tactical motive
Discovered attack: one piece steps aside, unleashing another's attack.
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1991 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
Black to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
A discovered attack fires when one piece steps aside and unmasks the piece behind it. Look for your own units that block a rook, bishop or queen: moving the front piece — ideally with a threat of its own — springs two attacks in one move.
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 h3, rook e1 f1, bishop d3, knight b5, pawn a2 b2 g2 h2 c4 e4 d5.
Black: king g8, queen h6, rook f8, bishop e7 c8, knight g4, pawn e5 b6 g6 a7 c7 f7.
13 white and 12 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 22.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 3 points of material (32 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 Black to move on move 22, with 40 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for Black: d, h.
Black hold the bishop pair, an edge in open lines. The Black king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
22... Bc5+ 23. Kh1 Nf2+ 24. Rxf2 Bxh3
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to c5 keeps the pressure (+4.5).
- Well found: knight to f2 (+4.7).
- Strong! bishop to h3 is the sharp choice (+4.9).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kh1, then Nf2+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 22… Bc5+ — bishop to c5 with check
- 23. Kh1 — king to h1
- Nf2+ — knight to f2 with check
- 24. Rxf2 — rook to f2 (capture)
- Bxh3 — bishop to h3 (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.
Discovered attack
A piece steps aside and opens a second attack from the piece behind it.
A discovered attack works like a curtain: one piece steps off the line and unveils the long-range piece behind it. The beauty is that the moving piece can create a second threat of its own — two attacks in one move. Look for your stacked pairs: a bishop or rook behind a knight or pawn, aimed through them at something valuable. Send the front piece to the most aggressive square — a discovery without a second threat wastes half its power.
Clearance
Clear your own piece out of the way — with tempo — for the decisive blow.
Clearance is about your own piece standing in the way of the decisive blow — so you move it aside, or even throw it away. The key is to clear with tempo: jump off with a check, a capture or a threat, giving the opponent no time to regroup. The telltale sign: you see a crushing queen or rook move, but one of your own pieces blocks the line or occupies the square. Do not cling to it — a clearance sacrifice usually costs less than a missed attack.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 014
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