Fork: pawn to d5 (e4·2)
li-0M70fnaming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2370 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 c1, queen c4, rook h1 b3, bishop g5, knight f3, pawn a2 b2 f2 g2 h2 e4.
Black: king b8, queen e6, rook d8 h8, bishop e7, knight d5 c6, pawn e5 d6 a7 b7 f7 g7 h7.
12 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 16.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (31 against 35; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on c1, the black king on b8.
It is White to move on move 16, with 49 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 6 pawns, Black 7. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d.
The White king has 4 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
16. exd5 Na5 17. dxe6 Nxc4 18. Bxe7
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to d5 keeps the pressure (+2.9).
- Well found: pawn to e6 (+2.8).
- Strong! bishop to e7 is the sharp choice (+2.9).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Na5, then dxe6 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 16. exd5 — pawn to d5 (capture)
- Na5 — knight to a5
- 17. dxe6 — pawn to e6 (capture)
- Nxc4 — knight to c4 (capture)
- 18. Bxe7 — bishop to e7 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Pawn fork
A humble pawn steps forward and attacks two pieces at once.
A pawn fork is a single pawn step that attacks two pieces at once. Since the pawn is the cheapest unit on the board, the trade is always a bargain — the opponent saves only one of the two targets. The pattern: two enemy pieces on the same rank, one file apart, with a square for your pawn between them. Before parking your pieces near enemy pawns, always ask whether one little push forks them both.
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.
Overload
One defender guards two things — it cannot do both jobs.
Overloading exploits a defender with two jobs at once — guarding a piece and covering a mating square, for instance. It cannot do both: your first strike forces it to handle one duty and abandon the other. Find the overworked piece by asking what happens to each of its charges if it gets distracted. Then hit one target and collect the other — an overloaded defender only pretends to defend.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads