Chess lessons › Chess endgames
Mate with two bishops
Two bishops mate a lone king. A bishop and a knight can too, if the king is driven to the right corner.
The idea
Keep the bishops side by side, bring your king, and mate in a corner.
- The bishops stand side by side, one on each colour.
- Your king takes the squares next to the cornered king.
- One bishop checks on the long diagonal; the other covers the last square.
In a game: Against a lone king, keep your bishops side by side and drive it to a corner.
How the lesson begins
Two bishops can mate a lone king, but only when they stand on squares of opposite colours: one on a light square and one on a dark square. Then between them they cover both colours. Keep them side by side, so that together they make a wall the king cannot cross, and bring your own king to help. The king has to be driven to the edge, and the mate comes there, usually in a corner or next to one.
Watch this one, with the bishops already side by side.
- 1. Kf3 The king comes closer and takes squares away. The bishops do the rest.
- 1... Ke1 2. Bc1 The bishops step along together and stay close.
- 2... Kf1 3. Bd2 Kg1 4. Kg3 The king takes g2 and h2 away from the corner.
- 4... Kf1 5. Bd3+ Check. The lone king has only one move.
- 5... Kg1 6. Be3+ Check again, and again only one move.
- 6... Kh1 7. Be4# The bishop on e4 checks along the long diagonal. Your king covers g2 and h2, and the bishop on e3 covers g1. Checkmate in the corner.
A question
White has two bishops, but both stand on dark squares. Black’s king is in the middle of the board. Can White win?
Show the answer
No. It is a draw: two bishops on the same colour cannot give checkmate.
Right. Bishops never change colour, so these two attack only dark squares. Checkmate would need the light squares around the king covered as well, and White’s king alone cannot do that. It is a draw.
In numbers
Positions to practise
16 positions in the study, every result proved by the tablebase: 16 are wins for the side to move, with best play on both sides.