Don't Fork Yourself

There are all sorts of disasters over the board: missing mates in one, walking into a mate, dropping a piece, resigning from a winning position, whatever. But what about resigning from a knight-fork (of one's K and Q) when the knight moved like a bishop? Well, that's exactly what Paul Broekhuyse did today against Sarah Anton.

With Paul's Q on f4 and the K on c3, Sarah Anton played her knight from c4 to e2! Both Q and K are forked. Except, of course, that it's actually an illegal move. Not realising the big error, Paul promptly resigned, the scoresheets signed and the result reported.

It wasn't until much later that Paul himself realised the mistake. But there was nothing to be done. The result stands.

CORRECTION: In fact, Paul's black K + Q stood on the f6 and c5 squares respectively. Anton then played the illegal Nf5-d7, apparently forking both monarchs. Here is the full game score.

2009 Sydney International Open
Anton, Sarah
Broekhuyse, Paul
B33

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. f3 e5 6. Nb3 Nxe4 7. fxe4 Qh4+ 8. Ke2 d5 9. h3 Bg4+ 10. hxg4 Qxh1 11. exd5 O-O-O 12. c4 Qh4 13. Kd2 Bb4+ 14. Nc3 Rhe8 15. a3 Bxc3+ 16. bxc3 e4 17. Kc2 Ne5 18. Be3 Nxg4 19. Bxa7 e3 20. Bd3 Qf2+ 21. Qe2 g6 22. Rf1 Qxe2+ 23. Bxe2 f5 24. Nd4 Nf2 25. Bb6 Rd7 26. Nb5 f4 27. Re1 Re5 28. Bf3 g5 29. Bd4 Rf5 30. Bxe3 fxe3 31. Rxe3 Rf8 32. d6 g4 33. Bd5 Kb8 34. Be6 Rg7 35. d7 Re7 36. Nd4 Kc7 37. Nb5+ Kd8 38. Nd4 h5 39. Kd2 h4 40. c5 Rxd7 41. Bxd7 Kxd7 42. Ne6 Rf5 43. Ke2 h3 44. gxh3 gxh3 45. Nd4 h2 46. Nxf5 h1=Q 47. Kxf2 Qb1 48. Nd4 Qa2+ 49. Kf3 Qxa3 50. Rd3 Ke7 51. Kf4 Qxc5 52. Ke4 b5 53. Nf5+ Kf6 White now played 54. Nf5-d7+. Both players missed the obvious and Paul resigned. 1-0