A Few Pawn Endgames
The position on the first diagram was reached in Ilyin Zenevski - Botvinnik, 1938. White has a passed pawn, but as we will see the decisive factor was one spare tempi. Black’s problem is limited mobility of his own pawns, as White h5 is holding two of them.
1. Kf3!
But still some caution is needed. The straightforward 1. Kf4 allows Black to escape with 1…g6! (but not 1…Ke6 2. g3! and White will win) 2. hxg6 Kxg6 3. g3 h5 and White no tempo and is forced to step back. 1. Kf4 g6 2. g3 isn’t helping either, 2…Kg7! Black can wait as long as the King is close enough to both “e” and “g” pawns, 3. e6 Kf6 4. hxg6 Kxe6 5. g7 Kf7 6. Kxf5 Kxg7 and draw again.
Now with Kf4 is reserve, Black is facing a nasty zugzwang.
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