Fork: knight to g3 (e4)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2179 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 g2, queen c7, rook f1 d5, bishop b2, pawn f2 a3 e3 g3 b5.
Black: king g8, queen h4, rook g6 e8, knight e4, pawn b7 f7 g7 h7.
10 white and 9 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (27 against 26; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g2, the black king on g8.
It is Black to move on move 31, with 45 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 5 pawns, Black 4. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): c, d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: a, 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
31... Nxg3 32. fxg3 Qe4+ 33. Rf3 Qxd5
Why it works
- Great move! knight to g3 keeps the pressure (+3.8).
- Well found: queen to e4 (+3.9).
- Strong! queen to d5 is the sharp choice (+3.9).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead fxg3, then Qe4+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31… Nxg3 — knight to g3 (capture)
- 32. fxg3 — pawn to g3 (capture)
- Qe4+ — queen to e4 with check
- 33. Rf3 — rook to f3
- Qxd5 — queen to d5 (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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