Fork: rook to b8
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The tactical motive
Fork: one piece attacks two targets at once — they can't both be saved.
Difficulty 2221 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 g1, queen h3, rook d1 b5, bishop c2, pawn a2 f2 g2 h2 c3.
Black: king g8, queen e7, rook a7 b8, knight d7, pawn a4 c5 g6 f7 h7.
10 white and 10 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 24.
The position in numbers
Material is level — 27 points of pieces on each side (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
The white king stands on g1, the black king on g8.
It is White to move on move 24, with 47 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): b, d, e — natural highways for the rooks and queen.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
24. Rxb8+ Nxb8 25. Qc8+ Kg7 26. Qxb8
Why it works
- Great move! rook to b8 keeps the pressure (+4.3).
- Well found: queen to c8 (+4.6).
- Strong! queen to b8 is the sharp choice (+4.5).
- You win a piece — the rook.
- If instead Nxb8, then Qc8+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 24. Rxb8+ — rook to b8 (capture) with check
- Nxb8 — knight to b8 (capture)
- 25. Qc8+ — queen to c8 with check
- Kg7 — king to g7
- 26. Qxb8 — queen to b8 (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.
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.
Decoy
A sacrifice lures the king or a piece onto a fatal square.
A decoy is the mirror image of deflection: you sacrifice to drag the king or a piece onto a fatal square. The classic is a queen or rook sac whose capture pulls the king into a knight fork, a discovered check or mate. Find the square where the target will be hit, then find the offer it cannot refuse. Calculate to the very end — a decoy only works when the follow-up is forced.
Provenance
Derived from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0).
Pack 015
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