With the Two Bishops

Bishops control diagonals to restrict the king's space.
With help from their king, they force the enemy king to the corner and deliver mate.
Since both bishops cover opposite colored squares, they need to work together to deliver checkmate by staying close together.

Watch Two Bishops in Action!

Steps to Checkmate

Step 1

The first step in the Two Bishop endgame is to occupy the central squares d4, d4, e4, e5 with our Bishops. We need to first get to the position shown in the diagram below, placing the Bishops on the long diagonals h1-a8 and a1-h8. Then we place our Bishops on e4 and d5 squares limiting the Black King to only 12 squares (see the actual game below).

Step 2

In this step we walk our King to the f5 square and to getting ready to shift our bishops to c5 and d5. We need to move the Bishops so that Black’s King cannot attack any of the Bishops. So, we first shift dark square Bishop to c5 and only then shift light square bishop to d5 (note how two bishops guard each other creating the wall and making it impossible for Black King to penetrate).

Step 3

At this point we have achieved the position shown on the diagram below. Now we need to transfer our King to e6 and to shift the Bishop once again to the left occupying b6 and c6. Remember that we need not let Black’s King to attack our Bishops.

Step 4

At this point the Black King has only two squares to move on: a8 and b8. We checkmate the Black’s King the following way: play 19. Bd7 to trap the Black King in the corner and then after 19… Ka8 we play 20. Bd4 followed by 20…Kb8 21.Be5+ Ka8 and finally 21. Bc6#