Day 617: Two-bishop mate
Target rating: 1393
Lesson of the day
The two-bishop mate rakes two adjacent diagonals: one bishop mates while the other seals off the escape squares. The bishops complement each other perfectly — living on opposite colors, together they cover an unbroken strip of the board. The pattern usually appears at the edge or in the corner where the king was pressed beforehand. Treasure the bishop pair until the attack comes — on an open board two adjacent diagonals become a solid wall.
Warm-up
1. Winning blow: knight to c5 (b3·9)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
2. Winning blow: queen to b6 (e3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
3. Winning blow: king to b2 (b1·10)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
4. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e6 (f6·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
5. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f8 (f4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
6. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e8 (e1·6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
7. Winning blow: queen to e7 (g5·4)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
8. Winning blow: rook to f8 (f5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
9. Winning blow: pawn to e5 (f4·24)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
10. Winning blow: knight to c6 (a5·7)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Core set
11. Mate in 3: bishop to f6 (a1·3)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
12. Mate in 3: pawn to b3 (c2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
13. Mate in 3: bishop to e6 (c4·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
14. Mate in 3: queen to e6 (b6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
15. Mate in 3: rook to d8 (d5·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
16. Castling-960 to the rescue on f8 (c8)Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
17. Castling-960 to the rescue on d8 (c8·2)Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
18. Castling-960 to the rescue on h8 (d8·2)Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
19. Mate in 2: queen to e6 (g8)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
20. Mate in 2: queen to e7 (a7)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
21. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d7 (h3·5)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
22. Mate in 2: queen to f8 (g7·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
23. Mate in 2: queen to e7 (f6)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
24. Mate in 2: queen to b7 (g2·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
25. Winning blow: queen to c8 (a6·2)Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
Challenge
Review
Day complete — every puzzle solved. See you tomorrow!
Day 618 →