Fork: pawn to g6 (g5)
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2287 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 h2, queen b7, pawn g2 c3 h3 g5.
Black: king g8, rook e2 a4, pawn d6 f7 g7.
6 white and 6 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 31.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 13 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on h2, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 31, with 25 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 4 pawns, Black 3. Files fully open (no pawns of either colour): a, b, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen. Half-open for White: d, f.
The White king has 3 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
31. g6 fxg6 32. Qb3+ Kh7 33. Qxa4
Why it works
- Great move! pawn to g6 keeps the pressure (+5.2).
- Well found: queen to b3 (+5.3).
- Strong! queen to a4 is the sharp choice (+5.8).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead fxg6, then Qb3+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 31. g6 — pawn to g6
- fxg6 — pawn to g6 (capture)
- 32. Qb3+ — queen to b3 with check
- Kh7 — king to h7
- 33. Qxa4 — queen to a4 (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.
Queen endgame
Queens on an open board — precision above all.
Queen endgames are treacherous: the queen reaches everywhere, and one slip turns a win into perpetual check. The signs are few pawns, exposed kings, and checks hanging in the air. Tuck your king away early, and use your own checks to bring the queen closer or push your passer with tempo. The typical mistake is grabbing pawns while leaving your king exposed to endless checks.
Quiet move
No check, no capture — yet this modest move decides the game.
A quiet move gives no check and takes nothing — yet it decides the game by creating an unstoppable threat or stealing the king's last square. This is the hardest class of moves: the eye hunts for loud blows while a modest shift does the winning. The clue: every forcing try runs into a defense, so seek the move that strengthens the threat or takes squares away. Train yourself to ask: what if I neither capture nor check, but quietly improve?
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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