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Day 617: Two-bishop mate

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)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
2. Winning blow: queen to b6 (e3)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
3. Winning blow: king to b2 (b1·10)Shuffle Rating 1280Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
4. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e6 (f6·3)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
5. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to f8 (f4)Shuffle Rating 1280Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
6. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to e8 (e1·6)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
7. Winning blow: queen to e7 (g5·4)Shuffle Rating 1280Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
8. Winning blow: rook to f8 (f5)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
9. Winning blow: pawn to e5 (f4·24)Shuffle Rating 1280Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
10. Winning blow: knight to c6 (a5·7)Shuffle Rating 1200Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Core set

11. Mate in 3: bishop to f6 (a1·3)Shuffle Rating 1630Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
12. Mate in 3: pawn to b3 (c2)Shuffle Rating 1630Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
13. Mate in 3: bishop to e6 (c4·2)Shuffle Rating 1630Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
14. Mate in 3: queen to e6 (b6)Shuffle Rating 1630Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
15. Mate in 3: rook to d8 (d5·2)Shuffle Rating 1630Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
16. Castling-960 to the rescue on f8 (c8)Shuffle Rating 1470Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
17. Castling-960 to the rescue on d8 (c8·2)Shuffle Rating 1470Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
18. Castling-960 to the rescue on h8 (d8·2)Shuffle Rating 1470Analysis
Black to move — find the best continuation
19. Mate in 2: queen to e6 (g8)Shuffle Rating 1450Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
20. Mate in 2: queen to e7 (a7)Shuffle Rating 1450Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
21. Attack on the uncastled king: queen to d7 (h3·5)Shuffle Rating 1450Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
22. Mate in 2: queen to f8 (g7·2)Shuffle Rating 1450Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
23. Mate in 2: queen to e7 (f6)Shuffle Rating 1450Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
24. Mate in 2: queen to b7 (g2·2)Shuffle Rating 1450Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
25. Winning blow: queen to c8 (a6·2)Shuffle Rating 1390Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Challenge

26. Winning blow: rook to f1 (e1·5)Shuffle Rating 1560Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
27. Mate in 3: queen to g6 (b1·2)Shuffle Rating 1630Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
28. Winning blow: bishop to c4 (d3·7)Shuffle Rating 1700Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Review

29. Fork: queen to a2Shuffle Rating 1290Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation
30. Winning blow: rook to d8 (b8·2)Shuffle Rating 1290Analysis
White to move — find the best continuation

Day complete — every puzzle solved. See you tomorrow!

Day 618 →