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Tactic · Beginner

Fork in chess

A fork is one piece attacking two or more enemy pieces at the same time.

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touch_appTry it: A knight can attack two pieces at once. Find the check that also hits the rook.

What is a fork in chess?

A fork is one piece attacking two or more enemy pieces at the same time. Your opponent can only move one of them, so you win the other. Knights fork best because their jump can't be blocked, but every piece, even a pawn, can fork.

  • After every enemy move, look for two loose or valuable pieces a single move of yours could hit.
  • Checks are the best forks: the king must move, so the second piece falls.
  • Squares a knight's jump from both the king and the queen are fork squares. Check them first.

How it works, step by step

A fork is one piece attacking two (or more) enemy pieces at the same time. Your opponent can only save one. Pawn forks are deadly because the pawn is worth so little.

Worked examples

Knight Fork: White to move. A knight can attack two pieces at once. Find the check that also hits the rook.

Solution: 1.Nc7+ Ke7 2.Nxa8. Nc7+ checks the king on e8 and attacks the rook on a8 at the same moment. The king has to step away, and Nxa8 wins a full rook. A knight's jump can't be blocked, which makes it the best forking piece.

Royal Fork: White to move. Fork the king and the queen with a knight check.

Solution: 1.Nd6+ Kd8 2.Nxc8. Nd6+ forks the king on e8 and the queen on c8. Black must answer the check, and Nxc8 wins the queen for a knight. Before every move, check the squares your knight can reach: are two enemy pieces a jump away from one of them?

Ask Wingo why it works

Wingo, our coach, never works out chess moves on its own. Stockfish finds the best line, chess.js writes down the facts of the position, and Wingo's explanation is built from that analysis. This is its real answer for "Check and grab", unedited (a person checked it before it went on this page).

1 · Position + engine

2 · Fact sheet (chess.js + Stockfish)

Side to move: White.
White: king g1, queen b1, pawn g3, pawn f2, pawn h2.
Black: king e8, rook a8, bishop f8, knight g8, pawn f7, pawn g7, pawn h7.
Material: White 12, Black 14 (Black up 2).
Loose/under-defended pieces: Black pawn on h7.
Defenders and attackers (verified):
Black rook a8: defended by nothing; attacked by nothing.
Black bishop f8: defended by king e8; attacked by nothing.
Black knight g8: defended by nothing; attacked by nothing.
White queen b1: defended by nothing; attacked by nothing.
Line-ups (verified geometry): Black rook a8 and Black king e8 are on the 8th rank (nothing between them); Black king e8 and Black bishop f8 are on the 8th rank (nothing between them); White queen b1 and White king g1 are on the 1st rank (nothing between them).
White's legal moves (27): pawn g3: g4; pawn f2: f3, f4; pawn h2: h3, h4; queen b1: Qa2, Qb2, Qb3, Qb4, Qb5+, Qb6, Qb7, Qb8+, Qc2, Qd3, Qe4+, Qf5, Qg6, Qxh7, Qc1, Qd1, Qe1+, Qf1, Qa1; king g1: Kg2, Kh1, Kf1.
Engine best line: 1.Qe4+ Kd7 2.Qxa8 Ke7 3.Qe4+ Kd8 — winning (+4.1) for White.
Best move theme: double attack.
After Qe4+, the opponent has 4 legal replies (the reply is NOT forced; the line shows the best one).

3 · What the coach said

Great job! The key move is Qe4+. By moving the queen to the square e4 you give check to the black king on e8, so the king has to move. At the same time the queen attacks the rook on a8, which has no defender. Because the king must get out of check, it cannot protect the rook, and you can later capture that rook and stay ahead in material. The queen does the work alone: the check forces the king to move, and the queen’s line from e4 reaches all the way to a8, hitting the rook. That’s why the move is called a “double attack” – one piece attacks two different enemy pieces at once. Tip: When you see a check, look quickly at the squares the checking piece also points to. If it lines up with an opponent’s piece that isn’t defended, you may have a double attack (a fork). This habit will help you spot similar ideas in real games.
Engine line: Qe4+ Kd7 Qxa8 Ke7 Qe4+ Kd8. In the app you can ask Wingo about any position, and about your own wrong moves.

Solve fork puzzles at your level

extension12 fork puzzles from real games, in three levels. Find the move; a wrong try is explained. No account needed.

Beginner · under 1200

Improver · 1200–1599

Intermediate · 1600+

Puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0), each checked by Stockfish.

Do you miss forks in your own games?

Our mistake finder checks your recent games with Stockfish and lists the 3 mistakes you repeat most. Missed forks are counted under "Missing forks and double attacks". Every mistake it finds becomes a puzzle from your own game, so you practise exactly the positions you got wrong.

Check my Chess.com gamesarrow_forwardEnter your username. Free, about a minute.Check my Lichess gamesarrow_forwardEnter your username. Free, about a minute.Check my Wings Chess gamesarrow_forwardUses the games you play here, after 5 games.

Use it in a real game

Puzzles tell you a fork is there. In a game nobody does. Play Tactical Priya, one of our bots that think at a human pace and make human mistakes, and look for the pattern yourself. The coach can point it out afterwards if you miss it.

Play Tactical Priya (1200)arrow_forwardWatches for tactics and punishes loose moves.About Tactical Priyaarrow_forwardHow this bot plays, and tips to beat it.

Train this in the app

Lesson: Knight Forkarrow_forwardA knight can attack two pieces at once. Find the check that also hits the rook. With hints, stars and your progress saved.Endless fork puzzlesarrow_forwardRated puzzles on this theme at your level, plus puzzles made from your own mistakes.

Keep going

Knight Forkarrow_forwardA knight fork is a knight jumping to a square where it attacks two valuable pieces at once, often the king and the queen (a "royal fork").Double Checkarrow_forwardA double check is when two pieces give check at the same moment, usually through a discovered check.Skewerarrow_forwardA skewer is a pin in reverse: you attack a valuable piece, it has to move out of the way, and you win the piece behind it.Opening: London Systemarrow_forwardA solid, easy-to-learn setup: d4, Nf3, Bf4, e3 and c3.