A knight fork is a knight move that attacks two enemy pieces at once. Knights attack in an L-shape, so the pieces it hits often cannot defend each other.
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A knight is worth about three pawns. When it forks a king and a rook, the king must move and the rook is lost. Knight forks are the most common tactic in beginners' games.
How to do it
- 1Look for two enemy pieces a knight's jump from the same empty square.
- 2Check the square: if a pawn or piece can take your knight there, it may fail.
- 3A fork with check works best, because the king must answer first.
For your level
The knight jumps like an L. It can hit two pieces at once. That is called a fork.
Common mistakes
- Forking two pieces when the knight itself can be taken on that square.
- Missing your opponent's fork: before each move, check where their knights can jump.
Questions
- Why are knight forks so common?
- A knight attacks squares that bishops, rooks and queens cannot, and its attacks cannot be blocked. Two pieces that look safe from each other are often a single knight jump apart.