Checkmate with a bishop and knight

The corner that works

You have a king, a bishop, and a knight. Your opponent has only a king. The bishop watches one color of squares. The knight has to watch the other. Your king takes away the rest of the space.

A light-squared bishop mates on a8 or h1. A dark-squared bishop mates on a1 or h8. In the other two corners the bishop can never give check, so you walk the king along the edge until it reaches a corner the bishop can attack.

The knight’s W

The bishop holds one color. The knight jumps onto the other and takes the squares the bishop can never touch. Your king closes the gap so the lone king cannot slip back to the center.

When you start the march, the knight goes first, then your king, then the bishop. The knight’s jumps trace a W. That shape is the part to remember.

The mating moves

Put the knight in front of your king, with the bishop on the diagonal in front of the lone king. Then play the same order until the king is in the corner the bishop can attack.

Leave the king one square until the bishop check is ready. If you take the last square while the king is not in check, the position is stalemate and the game is a draw.

How to learn it

Set up king, bishop, and knight against a lone king and play it until you can mate without looking at notes. Do it once with a light-squared bishop and once with a dark-squared bishop. Then let a friend try to run to the wrong corner.

Reading the idea once is not enough. The moves only stick after you have pushed the king across the board a few times and felt where the stalemate is. A master sitting with you can stop you on the move that loses the net, which is hard to notice on your own.

Chess with Masters is where you book a titled coach for that kind of endgame session, and then take the same habit into your own games.