Home / Tactics / Trainer / Beginners / Exercise #4
Diagram above: White to move. What would you do?
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The Solution
With so many undefended black pieces on the board, surely there must be a way to win material?
Diagram above: After 1… Ne4, white can play 2.Rd7, forking the undefended knight on e7 and bishop on b7. White will capture one of them on the next move, Ie. 2.Rd7 Bf6 3.Rxe7+
Important Observations
Black was threatening to capture the undefended pawn on c3. White either had to defend the pawn or find an even stronger counter threat.
This tactic became possible as a consequence of black’s last move, 1… Ne4, which left the d7-square undefended, allowing black to fork the two undefended pieces on the 7th rank.