Fork: pawn to g5 (g6)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2248 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 f4, queen f8, rook g3, pawn b2 a3 c4 d5 e6.
Black: king h6, queen d1, rook g7, pawn a5 c5 b6 d6 g6.
8 white and 8 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 44.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 19 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on f4, the black king on h6.
It is Black to move on move 44, with 23 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 5. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): f, h — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: e.
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
44... g5+ 45. Ke3 Qe1+ 46. Kd3 Qxg3+
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to g5 keeps the pressure (+5.0).
- Well found: queen to e1 (+5.4).
- Strong! queen to g3 is the sharp choice (+5.5).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Ke3, then Qe1+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 44… g5+ — pawn to g5 with check
- 45. Ke3 — king to e3
- Qe1+ — queen to e1 with check
- 46. Kd3 — king to d3
- Qxg3+ — queen to g3 (capture) with check
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.
Check chase
Every move is a check — the king is chased into losing ground.
In a check chase every one of your moves is a check, so the opponent never gets a free second. The king is herded across the board until it loses a piece or walks into a decisive blow. Such lines are the easiest to calculate: each check allows only a handful of replies, so try them all. Make it a habit to start calculating any sharp position with the checks — they are the most forcing moves on the board.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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