Fork: queen to c2 (g6)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 1966 ShuffleRating — for advanced tacticians.
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 g2, queen c5, knight c2 g4, pawn h3 f4 b5 e5 g5.
Black: king e8, queen g6, knight d2 f3, pawn d5 e6 f7 g7 h7.
9 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 47.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 20 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g2, the black king on e8.
It is Black to move on move 47, with 27 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): a, c — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: b.
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
47... Qxc2 48. Qxc2 Ne1+ 49. Kh1 Nxc2
Why it works
- Great move! queen to c2 keeps the pressure (+3.9).
- Well found: knight to e1 (+4.1).
- Strong! knight to c2 is the sharp choice (+4.2).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Qxc2, then Ne1+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 47… Qxc2 — queen to c2 (capture)
- 48. Qxc2 — queen to c2 (capture)
- Ne1+ — knight to e1 with check
- 49. Kh1 — king to h1
- Nxc2 — knight to c2 (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.
Simplification
Trade the heavy pieces and steer into a won endgame.
Simplification is how you convert an advantage: by trading queens and rooks you extinguish the counterplay and steer the game into a won endgame. The rule is simple — the side with extra material trades pieces but keeps pawns. Look for exchanges once the material is already won and your opponent is still rattling threats. The mistake is avoiding the queen trade and letting him muddy the water forever.
Winning exchange
A forced series of captures on one square ends in your favour.
A winning exchange is a forced series of captures on one square that leaves you ahead in material. It is pure arithmetic: count the attackers and defenders of the square and note the value of every piece in the queue. Capture in the right order — cheap pieces first, expensive ones later — or a winning trade turns into a losing one. The classic error is stopping the count halfway and missing the opponent's final recapture.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 014
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