forks

Two big pieces on the same color square? Keep on looking, a fork is there.

The best way to find a good move, is to look for a weakness in the form of some pattern in your opponents position. For example, in today's lesson you are going to look for a fork. A fork is when you move a piece so that it attacks two enemy pieces simultaneously. The knight is the best at forking, so let's look at knight forks first. If the opposing King and Queen are on the same color square there is probably a fork waiting.

In this problem, find a good move for Black.

Practice by placing the King and Queen on the same color and finding a fork with a knight. Can you find the one pattern where you can't fork?

Answer: Nxc2+ forking the King Queen and Rook. Of course, we'll take the queen next turn.

Answer: Here's the only pattern where the King and Queen are on the same color square, but cannot be forked by a knight - unless they're too far apart.