Queen vs Two Bishops Endgame
White to play and win
PlayA queen beats two bishops in most positions, but the win is long and complicated. Here one fact helps: both bishops run on dark squares, so neither can ever attack a light square. On a light square your queen is safe from them. In this line your king comes closer while the queen checks, until his king is near the corner and a check also attacks a bishop that nothing protects.
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Queen vs Two Bishops
White to play and win · Win against perfect defense
Waking the engine…
The theory
Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.
Queen against two bishops is a win, though a slow one: the bishops cover each other and the queen must create a double attack to break the pair. In practice two bishops almost never hold; there is a single drawing setup, known for centuries, but it is a museum piece, so treat the position as winning. The catch is patience: the grind can run many dozens of moves, so do not force it.
The method. Centralize the queen and push the defending king toward the edge, where its pieces lose coordination. Set up a fork or pin that hits king and bishop at once, and one bishop falls.
The discipline. Avoid greedy checks and captures that walk into a bishop fork of your king and queen. Improve the position first; the win is technique, not tactics.
In this drill you convert queen versus two bishops. Squeeze the king to the rim, then win a piece: the defender coordinates the bishops perfectly.
Keep going
Queen vs Two Knights
White to play and win
Queen vs Pawn on the Seventh
White to play and win
Drawing Queen vs Rook Pawn
Black to play and draw
All 18 queen endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)