5 ways to deny a fork
at the 400 level, u can never quite be sure ur opponent actually sees a potential fork. but its best to deny it anyway, and in this game i found 4 of 5 ways to do it.
in the move before this fork threat, i missed my chance to take the hanging central pawn. now i want it back. unfortunately, my opponent has moved to threaten not only my queen, but also a potential fork, denying me the immediate satisfaction of a juicy pawn snack:
noticing the potential fork is half the battle. now that i have, what are my options?
1. protect the forky square
my queen needs to move out of danger. but it is also the only protector of the forky square, so it had better not go far.
b8 would be best if i had no joy in my heart and did not wish to guarantee quick nomming of that tasty tasty pawn snack. I decide on queen to e5. this protects c7, attacks the pawn, and blocks the pawn from moving.
2. check to force a move.
i finally get my jaws around that delicious pawn!
i have stopped protecting the forky square, but the king is forced to deal with the check, so the forky knight will just have to wait.
3. move one of the forkable pieces
i decided to move the rook to b8, ruining the fork and attacking the knight. im interested in castling kingside, and this keeps that option.
4. eat the forker
in this game, my opponent attempted to distract me by confronting my queen. however, i was completely fine with a queen trade, especially one that would unblock and move forward a pawn.
i happily took the free knight and allowed the trade on the next move. (tho i suppose this isnt technically denying a fork anymore. but eating the attacker still belongs on any list of fork-denying strategies, and this is the best i got ok)
5. pin the forker
this is the move i did not see in the time i had, instead of rook b8. i dismissed the idea of attacking the knight, as it would be more than happy to escape the attack by moving into the fork. unless… it could not move at all!
i think that would have been a fun move. it not only protects against the fork, but it also develops my bishop, attacks the knight, and sets me up to give imminent checks and possible future mates! what great value!
hopefully next time im confronted with a potential fork, i will remember all my options: delay through protecting or checking, end the threat by moving a piece or eating the attacker, or pin the attacker.
heres the full game.
are there any other ways to handle a fork that u know of?
