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Spotting Knight Forks in Chess

1. Knights can fork enemy pieces by jumping over them to attack two pieces at once from a single square. 2. There are two types of knight forks - potential forks where the forking square is protected, and forcing moves where you force the enemy onto a forking square. 3. To find potential knight forks, visualize the knight's movement and look for situations where it can attack two enemy pieces from the same color square on its next move.

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364 views3 pages

Spotting Knight Forks in Chess

1. Knights can fork enemy pieces by jumping over them to attack two pieces at once from a single square. 2. There are two types of knight forks - potential forks where the forking square is protected, and forcing moves where you force the enemy onto a forking square. 3. To find potential knight forks, visualize the knight's movement and look for situations where it can attack two enemy pieces from the same color square on its next move.

Uploaded by

pushkar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chess Tactics - Predator at the Chessboard

Double Attacks

Knight Fork

Knights can attack (a) Unguarded pieces, (b) Higher valued pieces like R & Q. It can
jump over pieces to surprise the enemy.

Two cases of knight fork:


1. Potential Knight Fork​ - Square your knight needs to fork the enemy pieces
from is protected.
2. Forcing Moves​ - There is no potential fork, so we need to force the enemy
onto forkable square(s), usually with a check.

Seeing a ​Potential Knight Fork​:


1. Visualize the ​ring of 8 squares​ of a knight.
2. Knight and enemy pieces must be on ​same color squares​ for a fork to occur
on the knight’s ​next move​.
3. It is ​not​ possible to fork two enemy pieces on the ​same diagonal with one
square in between them​!
4. It takes ​3 moves​ to attack an enemy piece with our knight, both of which are
on the ​same diagonal with one square in between them!
5. An enemy piece can be attacked in ​at the most 2 ways, not more​. One way is
usually better than the other.
6. Everytime the knight ​moves​, it occupies a ​different colored square​.

Generic Advice:
1. Before attacking, be mindful of the ​defensive work​ your pieces are doing, and
how the upcoming attack affects the current defense.
2. When attacked, look for ​counterplay​ before falling into a defensive mindset.
Consider a ​capture​ rather than a retreat because ​sometimes the best defense
is a good offense​.
3. Look for​ forcing moves​, especially ​checks​ and ​follow up checks ​(Similarly,
captures and follow up captures).

Potential Knight Fork​ Advice:


1. When a forking square is ​guarded​, ​look more closely​… Is it really guarding? Is
it pinned? Can it be exchanged? Look for ​Potential Knight Fork Themes​.
2. If a forking square is ​guarded​, we need to ask ​how many times​? Be sure to
account for all the guards​ and the ​corresponding forking themes​ available to
remove them.
3. The ​order​ of removing ​multiple guards​ (if there are many) is important! It
should be such that in the end, we do not have enemy pieces on ​non-forkable
squares​.
4. Defense​: If an enemy knight is placed dangerously close to your king, it is
unwise to initiate any exchanges ​without making sure any forking
opportunities will be created for it.​

Potential Knight Fork​ Themes:


1. Pinned guard​: The forking square is protected by a guard but it is pinned to
some other valuable piece (ex: King)!
a. Check what other enemy pieces are on the ​same line​ as the guard,
and exposed to attack if it moves.
b. If guard is ​not​ currently pinned, we need to ask if it will get pinned ​after
we make the forking move (i.e a discovered pin).
2. Exchange away the guard​: When the guard can be captured by one of our
pieces, enabling a fork on the next move.
a. When you capture a guard, the enemy ​need not recapture or recapture
in the way you like,​ so look out for ​alternative moves​ of your enemy on
capture of his guard, and see if it is still winning for you!
b. Look for ​all possible captures​ of the guard. You do not want to
exchange a higher value piece when you can ​achieve the same with a
lower value piece​ instead.
c. Sometimes when ​two guards​ are present, capturing one guard requires
recapture by the enemy using the other guard, to ​maintain the balance
of points,​ effectively putting both the guards out of commission, and
enabling a fork!
3. Distracting the guard​: When the guard cannot be captured but it is
overworked,​ defending another piece or a sensitive square.
a. Capturing a piece that the overworked guard is protecting is ​winning​!
The recapture of the piece by the guard enables the fork, and in case
the recapture is declined, you are up material anyway.
b. Distracting the guard by ​capturing a target​ of the fork: The ​guard​ itself
turns into a ​target​! If a guard of the forking square is also protecting a
target of the fork then capturing that target is ​winning​ because when
the guard recaptures it, it replaces the target with itself for a knight fork.
c. Sometimes multiple exchanges (distractions) might be needed to make
a fork work. In such a case, ​work backwards from a tactical idea to
several exchanges​ that are needed to make it work!
d. Sometimes the guard is not protecting another piece but a ​sensitive
square​ (ex: A square next to the king, control of which could probably
lead to a mate). In such cases, we can distract the guard to guard that
sensitive square, enabling a knight fork!

Richer Ideas:
1. Combining knight fork and mating threats​: We can look for ​mating threats​ by
focusing on the enemy king. When your knight and a few other pieces are
close​ to the enemy king, look for ways to checkmate him. Thwarting a threat
of checkmate might enable a fork or vice-versa.
2. Always look for ​all possible ways to check the enemy king on the next move​.
Even if you do not find the fork in the beginning, the end sequence of possible
checks will probably lead you to identify a possible fork.

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