Pawn fork wins a knight — Chess Library

Both knights are individually safe, but a single pawn push attacks them together. Black can move one knight; the other must remain behind.

Lesson

White to move. Main line: 1. d5 Ncd4 2. dxe6

1.d5 forks the knights on c6 and e6. Black saves the c6-knight with 1...Ncd4, but no move can save both targets.

White answers 2.dxe6 and wins the second knight for a pawn. The tactic works without check because the two simultaneous attacks create the missing tempo.

Pawn forks are easy to overlook because pawns attack differently from how they move. Before moving a piece, scan the enemy pawn advances that could attack two pieces at once.