A guide to forking.

Today, I would like to talk to you all about Forking. The term "Forking" refers to when one piece attacks two (or more) at the same time.

In this game, I played black. I ended up winning on time, but I was up two queens, a rook, 3 pawns, and a Bishop. This is 30 points in material. At the start of the game it could have been all over. On Turn 7 I was forked by their knight on C7. A great way to defend this is to block the C pawn (for black) or the F pawn (for white). The same attack can happen if you attack the C2 pawn (for black) or the F7 pawn (for white). This is a very common fork at lower ELOs. I would say that anyone under about 600 should fall for this trick. 

Knights are not the only pieces that can do forks though. Let's take a look at a rook fork!  Here it is white to move. Can you find the fork?

That's right Rook D8. The king has to move out of the way and the rook is not there to defend the knight. You win a free knight! The white king protects the rooks on the next move. 

If I were to give any advice about forking, I would tell you this. If you see a good fork, make sure you check to see that it's safe. After you have confirmed it is safe to do so,  you should always fork. In my opinion, (as a 750 ELO) is that the knight is the best piece for doing forks. 

Thanks for reading this blog and make sure to check back next week for more content!