Basic Tactical Motifs
tacticsBeginner20 min

The Knight Fork & Royal Fork

A fork is one piece attacking two targets at once. The knight is the classic forking piece because its attacks are hard to see.

Key principles

  • Look for enemy pieces a knight's jump apart from one square
  • A fork with check (a royal fork) wins the other piece
  • Undefended pieces are fork targets

Common mistakes

  • Missing that the forking square is defended
  • Leaving king and queen a knight's move apart
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