Rd. 1 of tournaments, both individual and team, often produce mismatches on paper. The Americans at the World Senior outrated their opponents by roughly 400 points per board, and duly won the match with a 4-0 sweep. That’s not to say they had things all their own way though!
On board 2, Thierry Coste (Philidor Brothers, France) fought back from an unpleasant position to within touching distance of a draw against American Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov. After Kaidanov’s 55…Kg6, they reached the following opposite colored bishop ending.
As we have previously discussed, OCB Endings are well known for their drawing tendencies. Despite being down two pawns, White can take advantage of this. How can he survive?