Two Bishops vs King
Coordinate the bishops into a wall and herd the king to a corner. Trickier than it looks and a classic test of piece harmony.
What you'll learn
- Coordinating two bishops into a wall of diagonals
- Herding the lone king into any corner
- How the king and bishops finish the mate together
The technique, move by move
Every line below is verified against an endgame tablebase — perfect play, no guesswork.
Herding with the diagonals
1.Bc4 Kh7 2.Bd4 Kh6 3.Bd3 Kg5 4.Bg7 Kh5 5.Ke2 Kg5 6.Kf3 Kh5 …
Two bishops mate by building walls of diagonals. Keep them on adjacent diagonals to fence the king in.
From the centre
1.Bb2+ Ke6 2.Bc4+ Kd6 3.Kd2 Ke7 4.Bg7 Ke8 5.Kc3 Kd8 6.Kb4 Ke8 …
Drive from e6
1.Kd2 Kf7 2.Bh3 Ke7 3.Ba3+ Kf6 4.Bd6 Kg7 5.Ke3 Kh7 6.Be6 Kg7 …
Drive from h8
1.Bg5 Kg8 2.Bd3 Kf8 3.Bf5 Kg8 4.Ke2 Kh8 5.Kf3 Kg8 6.Kg4 Kh8 …
Drive from a8
1.Be3 Kb8 2.Bb5 Kc8 3.Bc5 Kd8 4.Kd2 Kc8 5.Kc3 Kd8 6.Kb4 Kc8 …
Kings close (f3)
1.Bd3 Kg4 2.Kf2 Kh5 3.Kf3 Kh4 4.Bg6 Kh3 5.Bg5 Kh2 6.Kf2 Kh3 …
Drive from h4
1.Be2 Kg3 2.Be3 Kh3 3.Kf2 Kh4 4.Bc1 Kh3 5.Bg5 Kh2 6.Bf1 Kh1 …
Drive from b8
1.Ba3 Kc7 2.Bc4 Kd7 3.Kd2 Ke8 4.Bc5 Kd7 5.Kc3 Ke8 6.Kd4 Kd8 …
Drive to a1 corner
1.Kd1 Kb1 2.Be2 Ka2 3.Kc2 Ka1 4.Bb2+ Ka2 5.Bc4#
Drive to h1 corner
1.Kf2 Kh2 2.Bf4+ Kh1 3.Bg2#
Drill the Two Bishops vs King
Practice randomly served positions and play them out against a perfect tablebase until you convert the win every time.
Open the Endgame Trainer →Related endgames to master
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King & Pawn vs KingThe single most important endgame there is. Master the opposition and key squares and you will win — or save — countless games.