Endgame guide
Two Bishops Checkmate: How to Herd the King
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This mate assumes the usual bishop pair: one bishop controls the light squares and the other controls the dark squares. Together they build a moving wall of adjacent diagonals. The defending king must be driven from the centre to an edge and then toward a corner while the attacking king closes the route back. Two same-coloured bishops created by promotion cannot build this net against a lone king.
The wall
Place the bishops side by side so their diagonals form a barrier the king cannot cross. Advance the wall one diagonal at a time, using your king to take away the squares in front.
Into the corner
Near the edge, the bishops alternate: one holds the wall while the other steps forward. The king gets squeezed along the edge toward a corner of either colour—the pair covers both colour complexes.
Stalemate traps
The cornered king often has only one or two legal moves. Before every quiet move, check what the defender can actually play. If the answer is nothing and there is no check — you have thrown away the win.
The position is a theoretical win with the two bishops and king, but the route is long enough that guessing can lose the thread. Practise the wall, the king approach and the final net as separate stages, and count a legal square for the defender before each quiet move.