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Fork (chess)

Chess piece attacking two or more pieces simultaneously

Summary

Chess piece attacking two or more pieces simultaneously

|tright | |rd| | | | | | | | | | |kd| | | | | |nl| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |pd| | | | | | |rl| |rl | | | | | | | | | | |kl| | | | | |The white knight forks Black's king and rook. Black's pawn forks the white rooks.

In chess, a fork is a tactic in which a piece multiple enemy pieces simultaneously. The attacker usually aims to capture one of the forked pieces. The defender often cannot counter every threat. A fork is most effective when it is , such as when the king is put in check. A fork is a type of .

Terminology

A fork is an example of a . The type of fork is named after the type of forking piece. For example, a fork by a knight is a knight fork. The attacked pieces are forked. If the king is one of the attacked pieces, the term absolute fork is sometimes used, while a fork not involving the enemy king is a relative fork.

A fork of the king and queen, the highest -gaining fork possible, is sometimes called a royal fork. A fork of the enemy king, queen, and one (or both) rooks is sometimes called a grand fork. A knight fork of the enemy king, queen, and possibly other pieces is sometimes called a family fork or family check.

Strategy

While any piece can deliver a fork, knights are particularly effective as the forking piece because they cannot be captured by the non-knight pieces they attack, and as a they are less valuable than rooks and queens.

Compared to forks by other pieces, a queen fork requires more specific conditions to be helpful due to the queen's higher value. A queen fork can often lead to material or positional gain, however, when the forked pieces are undefended, poorly coordinated, or when one piece is the king.

Game examples

|tleft |Tissir vs. Dreev, 2004 |rd| | | | | |kd| | |pd| |qd| |pd|bd|pd | | | | | | |pd| | | |pl|pd| | | | |pd| | | |nd|ql| | |pl| | | | |pl| | |bl| | |bl| | |pl|pl | | |rl| | | | |kl |Position after 33.Qe5–f4 This example is from the first round of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004 between Mohamed Tissir and Alexey Dreev. After

:33... Nf2+ 34. Kg1 Nd3

White resigned. In the final position the black knight forks White's queen and rook; after the queen moves away, Black will win the exchange.

|tleft |Soppe vs. Braga, 1998 | | | | | | |kd| | | | | | |pd|bd| | | | | |pd| | |pd | |pd| |nd|nl| | | | | | | |qd| |pl| | |pl| | | | | |pl | | | | | |pl| | | | |bl|ql| |kl| | |Position after 40.Nxe5 This example is from the ninth round of the Clarin GP Final between Guillermo Soppe and Fernando Braga. After

:40... Qh1+

White resigned. The only move is 41.Ke2 which enables a royal fork with 41...Nc3+, winning the queen.

|tright | |rd| |bd|qd|kd|bd| |rd |pd|pd|pd|pd| |pd|pd|pd | | |nd| | |nd| | | | | | |pd| | | | | |bl| |pl| | | | | |nl| | |nl| | |pl|pl|pl|pl| |pl|pl|pl |rl| |bl|ql|kl| | |rl |Position after 4.Nc3. Black can play 4...Nxe4 since he has a fork trick. |tright | |rd| |bd|qd|kd|bd| |rd |pd|pd|pd| | |pd|pd|pd | | |nd| | | | | | | | |pd|pd| | | | | |bl| |nl| | | | | | | | |nl| | |pl|pl|pl|pl| |pl|pl|pl |rl| |bl|ql|kl| | |rl |After 4...Nxe4 5.Nxe4 d5, White is forked and Black will regain a piece. In the Two Knights Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6) after 4.Nc3, Black can eliminate White's e4-pawn immediately with :4... Nxe4

due to the fork trick :5. Nxe4 d5

regaining either the bishop or the knight.

References

References

  1. "The Fork • lichess.org".
  2. "Chess Game Strategies - Next Chess Move".
  3. (2015). "A World Champion's Guide to Chess: Step-by-Step Instructions for Winning Chess the Polgar Way!". Russell Enterprises, Incorporated.
  4. (1996). "[[The Oxford Companion to Chess]]". [[Oxford University Press]].
  5. "Fork in Chess - Chess Terms".
  6. {{harvp. Hooper. Whyld. 1996
  7. "Tissir vs. Dreev, Tripoli 2004".
  8. "Guillermo Soppe vs. Fernando Braga, (1998)".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

chess-tactics chess-terminology
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