Two Bishops Checkmate: Practice Drill
White to play and win
PlayTwo bishops side by side make a moving wall on two diagonals. Drive the king to a corner, any corner, and close the net.
Updated
New to this ending? Learn the method first: Two Bishops Checkmate
No signup needed. The opponent never gives up, and every mistake gets explained.
Two Bishops Checkmate
White to play and win · Win against perfect defense
Waking the engine…
The theory
The two bishops mate is rare enough that most club players have never executed it, and common enough that you will face it with seconds on the clock some day.
The wall. Two bishops on adjacent diagonals control two unbroken parallel lines: a wall no king crosses. Advancing one bishop one step at a time rolls the wall forward and shrinks the defender's zone.
King first, then squeeze. Unlike the ladder mate, the bishops cannot finish alone: your king does the final pushing. Centralize it early, keep it one knight's-move from the enemy king, and steer toward any corner (either color works, unlike bishop and knight!).
Stalemate alert. The classic failure is boxing the king on the edge with zero squares too early. The drill's opponent never gives up a half point, so it will pounce on every stalemate you allow.