The Everything Chess Basics Book (35 page)

White to move. 1. Bf4. Notice that the fifth rank is off limits to the lone king, thanks to the bishops. 1. ... Ke6 2. Kd4.

The strong king comes up to help. Notice that d6 is off limits to Black. 2. ... Kd7 3. Kd5. Now the sixth rank and c7 are off limits. 3. ... Ke7 4. Be5.

The f6-escape square is taken away. 4. ... Kd7 5. Bf5+. Now much of the seventh rank is denied Black. 5. ... Ke7 6. Kc6.

The bishops are perfectly placed, so White now brings his king closer. 6. ... Kf7 7. Kd7 Kg8.

Alert! The Black king can only move to f7 or f8. Therefore White will blow it by moving 8. Ke8 or 8. Ke7, both of which produce stalemate. 8. Ke6. Now Black has a square to go to: f8. 8. ... Kf8 9. Bg6. White takes e8 away. 9. ... Kg8.

This is another alert. The Black king has only f8 as an escape. Therefore, White must avoid 10. Ke7 stalemate. 10. Kf6 Kf8. If Black plays 10. ... Kh8 we end it early with 11. Kf7 checkmate.

11. Bd6+ White drives the lone king to the corner. 11. ... Kg8 12. Be4. White gives himself some breathing room while not allowing the Black king out of his box. 12. ... Kh8.

13. Kg6. The White king makes room for the bishops. 13. ... Kg8 14. Bd5+ Kh8.

15. Be5 checkmate.

Learning these king and two minor pieces versus king checkmates is a very good course in learning basic chess strategy. All the principles you have learned and will learn in the future apply: Control the center, coordinate your pieces, use all the pieces, and make use of threats. Once you know these basic checkmates by heart, you will probably already be a pretty good chess player.

Bishop and Knight

This one is the hardest of the basic checkmates. That’s because it is no longer good enough to force the lone king into a corner: it has to be the corner of the color of your bishop. You simply cannot produce a checkmate anywhere else.

The Checkmate

The checkmates can take several forms. Here they are:

The bishop delivers the check. Knight and king act in supporting roles.

The bishop delivers the check. Knight and king act in supporting roles.

The knight delivers the check. Bishop and king act in supporting roles.

Driving the King

Here is a position well along the way to completion. You will notice that the lone king is very close to the wrong corner.