How To Play With The Bishop Pair

ONE piece of chess wisdom that has stuck in my mind is that you need to be of 2000-strength before you can understand how to exploit the bishop-pair.
I cannot remember where I read this, but the writer was American and it was before Fide's ratings went below 2200, so he must have been referring to US Chess Federation ratings.
Now a USCF elo of 2000 is roughly equal to a Fide one of 1900, which in turn converts into an ECF grade - using the current prescribed formula - of 160.
If this wisdom is correct, it means the vast majority of club players do not know how to handle the bishop-pair. So learning something about the correct techniques could harvest a lot of points.
One of the best ways to learn is to study games of the old masters. where the right methods were first worked out and implemented.
An acknowledged pioneer in this field was the first official world champion, Wilhelm Steinitz.
Here is the finish of what was, as far as I can discover, his only tournament win against fellow-Austrian Berthold Englisch.
Englisch - Steinitz
London 1883
(Notes in italics from 500 Master Games Of Chess by Tartakower & du Mont)

Black to make his 24th move 

The bishop-pair works best on an open board with unbalanced pawn majorities. Here there are no central pawns, which favours bishops because there are open diagonals and because the knight will have difficulty getting a strong outpost. Black also has more space, and his rook is on an open file (although occupying the only accessible entry square, d3, would not be very productive at this point). On the other hand, Black's dark-square bishop is blocked in by its own pawns, Added to this, White has no real weaknesses, so although Black is better, White apparently has reason to hope.
24...h6
Steinitz supports the g5 pawn as a prelude to playing …f5, which would free his dark-square bishop and deny White's knight the e4 square.
25.Re1 f5 26.f4
Preventing the advance ...f4 and giving the knight a potential outpost at e5.
26...Bf6 27.g3!?
This weakens h3 but BE presumably felt that was not a serious matter. Komodo9 and Stockfish10 suggest 27.Nd2, playable because 27...Bxa2? lets White activate his rook with 28.Ra1 etc.
27...a5
Now Nd2 can be met by ...Bxa2 as 29.Ra1 achieves nothing and 29.b3? does not come close to trapping the bishop after 29...Bxc3 or 29...Rd3.
28.Nc1 a4 29.a3 Bc4
The restriction of the knight continues.
30.Kf2 gxf4!?
The engines much prefer 30...g4.
31.Bxf4 Bg5!
The beauty of this move, which gives up the two bishops and seems to leave too little material on the board, lies in its simplicity. In principle it is essential to weigh up carefully such exchanges, which modify the position of the pawns. Black here has made all the necessary calculations.
Steinitz's move is a reminder that the bishop-pair is not an end in itself. It is an advantage that, like any other advantage, should be cashed in if the opportunity for a bigger advantage presents itself.
32.Bxg5
If 32.Ke3, Black does not at once play 32...Re1+ 33.Kf2 Rxe1 34.Kxe1 etc with a tenable game for White, but 32...Kg6, improving his position while White can do nothing to improve his own.
32...hxg5
A lot of players would have rejected Black's last two moves as White now has the possibility of creating a passed pawn on the h file, but Steinitz has seen that this is not dangerous.
33.Ke3
Essential in order to prevent the irruption of the hostile rook on his second rank.
33...Kf6
The approach of the king will play a decisive part in the ultimate phase of the contest.
34.h4
In his blockaded position, White has no good move. For instance, if 34.Rh1, 34...Ke5.
34...gxh4 35.gxh4 Re8+ 36.Kf2 Rxe1 37.Kxe1 Ke5 38.Ne2
If 38.h5, 38...Kf6 followed by ...Kg5 and Kxh5 etc.
38...Bxe2!
An outside passed pawn is very often a winning factor in a pawn ending, but Steinitz has seen that his well-placed king is the trump card here.
39.Kxe2 Kf4
And here is the duel of the kings. Although normally the distant passed pawn wins, in this case Black will be able to confiscate the adverse pawn without losing his own.
39...Kf4 is the only winning move - all other moves lose - but one winning move is enough!
40.c4
Or 40.h5 Kg5 41.Kf3 Kxh5 42.Kf4 Kg6, and wins.
40...Kg4 41.Ke3 f4+
Evidently  not 41...Kxh4 42.Kf4.
42.Ke4
Or 42.Kf2 Kxh4 etc. But now it is no longer a case of capturing the opposing pawn, but the queening of his own, which wins, by a length, the race to the queening square.
42...f3 43.Ke3 Kg3 0-1
A hard-fought battle.