Pawn & Bishop Forks

Pawns fork because they attack diagonally in a fixed direction; bishops fork because one move can open or create attacks along two diagonals. Pawn forks are especially easy to miss because players focus on pawn captures rather than pawn attacks.

The calculation question remains the same: after the fork, can the opponent capture the forking piece, move one target with tempo, or create a stronger threat?

Training flow: 1. Color-direction pawn attack drill. 2. Bishop diagonal visualization. 3. Compare fork vs skewer examples. 4. Guided calculation of fork aftermath. 5. Mixed independent set.

Common errors: Forgetting pawn attack direction. Calling two attacked pawns a meaningful fork. Ignoring that one target has a forcing reply. Confusing bishop fork with skewer.

Mastery gate: 7/8 correct; zero pawn-direction errors.

Review: Write one rule for white pawn fork squares and one for black pawn fork squares.

Duration: 60–80 min