3/29/2015

Fork (chess) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fork (chess)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In chess, a fork is a tactic whereby a single piece makes two or

more direct attacks simultaneously. Most commonly two pieces are
threatened, which is also sometimes called a double attack. The
attacker usually aims to gain material by capturing one of the
opponent's pieces. The defender often finds it difficult to counter two
or more threats in a single move. The attacking piece is called the
forking piece; the pieces attacked are said to be forked. A piece
that is defended can still be forked, if the forking piece has a lower
value.
Besides attacking pieces, a target of a fork can be a direct mating
threat (for example, attacking an unprotected knight while
simultaneously setting up a battery of queen and bishop to threaten
mate). Or a target can be an implied threat (for example, a knight
may attack an unprotected piece while simultaneously threaten to
fork queen and rook).

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a

The knight forks the black king and rook.

The pawn forks the white rooks.

Forks are often used as part of a combination which may involve

other types of chess tactics as well.

Contents
1 Forking piece
2 Example from a game
3 Example from an opening
4 Escaping forks
5 Other terms
6 See also
7 Notes
8 Citations
9 References
10 External links

Forking piece
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Fork (chess) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The type of fork is named after the type of forking piece. For example, a knight fork is a knight move that attacks
two or more opponent's pieces simultaneously. Any type of piece can perform a fork[note 1]including the king
and any type of piece can be forked. A fork is most effective when it is forcing, such as when the king is put in
check.
Knights are often used for forks. Their unique L-shaped move means that they can attack any other type of piece,
including the powerful Queen, without being attacked by their targets.
The queen is also often used to fork, but since the queen is usually more valuable than the pieces it attacks, this
typically gains material only when the pieces attacked are undefended or if one is undefended and the opposing king
is checked. The possibility of a queen fork is a very real threat when the queen is in the open, as is often the case in
endgames. If a player wants to force an exchange of queens, forking the opposing queen and king (or an
undefended piece) with a protected queen can be useful.
Pawns other than rook pawns (those on the a- and h-files) can also be used to fork by attacking two enemy pieces
diagonallyone to the left, the other to the right.

Example from a game

Tissir vs. Dreev, 2004
a

This example is from the first round of the FIDE World Chess

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Championship 2004 between Mohamed Tissir and Alexey Dreev.[1]

After 33... Nf2+ 34. Kg1 Nd3, White resigned. In the final position
the black knight forks the white queen and rook; after the queen
moves away, Black will win the exchange.

Position after 33.Qf4

Example from an opening

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 d5regaining
either the bishop or the knight.
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Position after 4.Nc3. Black can play

4...Nxe4 since he has a fork trick.

After 4...Nxe4 5.Nxe4 d5, White is

forked and Black will regain a piece.

Escaping forks
Forks can possibly be escaped. A forked piece such as the queen might check the enemy king, a zwischenzug,
giving time to move the second forked piece to safety on the next move.

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

See also
Chess tactic
Skewer

Notes
1. Some sources apply the term fork only when a knight is the attacker, while if another piece is the attacker the
tactic is called double attack, etc.
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Citations
1. Tissir vs. Dreev, 2004 (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1290197) Chessgames.com

References
Burgess, Graham (2009), The Mammoth Book of Chess (3rd ed.), Running Press, ISBN 978-0-76243726-9
Golombek, Harry (1977), Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess, Crown Publishing, ISBN 0-517-53146-1
Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1992), The Oxford Companion to Chess (2nd ed.), Oxford University
Press, ISBN 0-19-866164-9

External links
Chess Tactics Repository Forks (http://www.chesstr.com/problems?ta=8) chess problems involving forks
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Categories: Chess tactics Chess terminology
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