Fork: queen to b6 (d8·2)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2243 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 g1, queen d1, rook a1 e1, bishop c6, pawn a2 c2 e2 h2 b3 g3 f4.
Black: king g8, queen d8, rook a8 e8, bishop g4, pawn b5 a6 g6 e7 f7 h7.
12 white and 11 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 17.
The position in numbers
White are ahead by 1 points of material (29 against 28; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g8.
It is Black to move on move 17, with 36 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 6. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): d — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for Black: c.
The Black king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
17... Qb6+ 18. e3 Bxd1
Why it works
- Great move! queen to b6 keeps the pressure (+5.0).
- Well found: bishop to d1 (+5.3).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead e3, then Bxd1 and you win the queen.
Move by move
- 17… Qb6+ — queen to b6 with check
- 18. e3 — pawn to e3
- Bxd1 — bishop to d1 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Winning blow
Find the strike that wins material by force.
A winning blow is a forced material gain that does not fit a single textbook motif. The general tactical recipe applies: spot loose pieces, an awkwardly placed king, overloaded lines. Go through the forcing moves in order of violence — checks, captures, threats — because most combinations start with one of them. Do not judge by feel: calculate the concrete line until the outcome is beyond doubt.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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