Last time, I asked you how White could make a draw from the following position:
There are actually a couple paths to safety. Neither is trivial, and it’s entirely possible White would find the move but then stumble later on. Nonetheless, the position is objectively drawn after either correct defense.
Black is threatening …Kg5, followed by …Kg4. This would allow him to play …g5 and …h4, creating a passed h-pawn without unnecessary pawn exchanges. The first defense is to prevent this manually: 56.Be3 stops the king from going to g5.
If Black doesn’t do anything, White will simply wait with his bishop on the c1-h6 diagonal, preventing a king invasion. Black may try …Kf7 and …g5, trying to force through …h4. The following position type can arise:
Then 60.Be1 keeps everything under control, not allowing the immediate creation of a passed h-pawn. Black would have to organize the …f5 break to make progress. The downside of this plan is that the exchange of White’s e pawn for Black’s f pawn will lead to a theoretical draw.
Suppose this position is reached. 62.exf5+ Kxf5 63.Be1 (clearing f2 for the White king and preparing a timely Bc3) 63…Kg4 64.Ke3 Bb7
65.Kf2 h4 66.gxh4 gxh4
67.Bc3! Is a theoretical draw. Without going too deep into the weeds: The proximity to the edge of the board makes it impossible for Black to win. The main relevance of all this for the original position, is that White should have stopped Black from making easy progress by advancing his king to g5. That would have forced Black to trade pawns to make progress. As we know, pawn trades typically bring the defender closer to a draw by reducing the number of potential future queens.
Returning to the original position:
56.Bc5 was the other solution.
The idea was to meet 56…Kg5 with 57.Bf8!, and then 57…g6 with 58.Be7 (or 58.Bg7). Again White does not allow Black’s king to invade.
As for the game itself?
White played 56.Be3?. Attacking the bishop may have provided the illusion of safety, but the king is taking the square or diagonal its colleague needed! After 56…Bg2
It was all over: White is helpless against the plan of …Kg5-g4, …g5, and finally …h4, creating a passed pawn without unnecessary simplification. White played a couple more moves and then resigned.
The key idea here: White needed to prevent the invasion of the Black king! By controlling the g5 square, or preparing to counterattack Black’s pawns, he could have forced Black to simplify the position in order to make progress, leading to a theoretical draw.