Fork: bishop to e4 (f5)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2160 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 b1, queen h4, rook h1 b2, bishop e2, pawn g2 h2 c4 d4 e4.
Black: king f7, queen a4, rook g7, bishop f5, knight a2, pawn g6 a7 b7.
10 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 4 points of material (27 against 23; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on b1, the black king on f7.
It is Black to move on move 24, with 32 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: c, d, e, h.
The Black king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
24... Bxe4+ 25. Qxe4 Nc3+ 26. Kc1 Nxe4
Why it works
- Great move! bishop to e4 keeps the pressure (+4.5).
- Well found: knight to c3 (+4.4).
- Strong! knight to e4 is the sharp choice (+4.5).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxe4, then Nc3+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 24… Bxe4+ — bishop to e4 (capture) with check
- 25. Qxe4 — queen to e4 (capture)
- Nc3+ — knight to c3 with check
- 26. Kc1 — king to c1
- Nxe4 — knight to e4 (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.
Win the pinned piece
The pinned piece cannot run — attack it again and win it.
A pinned piece cannot flee, which means you can win it outright by attacking it one more time. Count attackers against defenders: if you outnumber them, the piece is yours. The best extra attacker is a pawn, since it costs less than anything it might capture. Do not rush the capture — build up the pressure first, then harvest.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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