Fork in chess: how it works
One piece attacks two enemy pieces at once so your opponent can only save one.
A fork is one of the most powerful tactics in chess: a single piece attacks two (or more) enemy pieces at the same time. Your opponent can only move one piece per turn, so they can save one target but not both. You win whatever they leave behind.
Knights are the king of forks because their L-shaped jump hits squares that no other piece covers, and they cannot be blocked. But pawns, bishops, rooks, and queens can all fork too.
Learning to spot fork opportunities - especially the knight fork - is one of the fastest ways to win free material and gain rating points.
Fork examples
White knight on c7 forks the king and rook
The white knight on c7 attacks the black king on e8 AND the black rook on a8 simultaneously. Black must move the king out of check, letting white capture the rook for free. This is called a royal fork because the king is one of the targets - the most devastating type.
White pawn on e5 forks both black knights
A pawn can fork too. The white pawn on e5 attacks d6 and f6 simultaneously. Black has a knight on each square, and a pawn is worth far less than a knight. No matter which knight moves, white captures the other one for a clean material gain. Pawn forks are easy to miss because pawns seem so harmless.
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