Fundamentals (part six)

P Sargeaunt (155) - Spanton (151)
Middlesex League Division 3 1989

White has just captured on e3 - who stands better?

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Black has doubled isolanis, which are unlikely to ever be dissolved, but it is far from obvious how White is to get at them.
White has a backward e pawn. He should be able to get rid of that, but after e4 dxe4 White will have an isolated d pawn.
Neither side has a space advantage, or prospects of creating a pawn majority. Perhaps it is not surprising that the analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10 reckon the position is dead-equal.
24...Kf7 25.Kf2 Kf6 26.Kf3 Kf5
Both players have centralised their kings as far as they are able, and it is time to think of pawn moves.
27.b4 b6 28.g4+

Black to play and draw

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Often in pawn endings it is fatal for a king to retreat, but here 28...Kg5? loses as Black eventually ends up in zugzwang after 29.Kg3, eg 29...a6 30.a3 a5 31.bxa5 bxa5 32.a4 Kf6 33.Kh4 Ke6 34.Kg5 Kf7 35.h4.
28...Kf6
Also fine is 28...Ke6.
29.h3
If 29.Kg3, then 29...g5 holds.
White offered a draw.
29...g5 30.e4
White gets to dissolve his backward pawn (or turn it into a protected passer) and gets his king to the fourth rank, but the position remains dead-equal, according to the engines.
30...dxe4+
Actually, the engines reckon 30...Ke6 31.e5 is also level, but not 31.exd5+?? Kxd5 32.Ke3 Kc4 etc.
31.Kxe4 Ke6 32.a3 a6

White to play and draw

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33.a4?
For the second time in this ending, a king is better off retreating than following normal good-practice by standing firm.
Both 33.Ke3 and 33.Kd3 draw, according to the engines, eg 33.Ke3 Kd5 34.Kd3 b5 35.Ke3 (not 35.Kc3? as the d pawn falls after 35...Ke4) Kc4 36.Ke4 Kb3 37.Ke5 Kxa3 38.Kd6 Kxb4 39.Kxc6 Ka4 40.d5 b4 - both players queen and the game is drawn.
That is not an easy line to calculate, but White had to try it as the text loses immediately.
33...a5 34.bxa5 bxa5 35.Kd3
No improvement is 35.Ke3 Kd5 36.Kd3 c5 37.dxc5 Kxc5 38.Kc3 g6 39.Kb3 Kd4 etc.
35...Kd5 36.Kc3 c5 37.dxc5 Kxc5
The game finished:
38.Kd3 Kb4 39.Kd4 Kxa4 40.Kc4 Ka3 41.Kc3 a4 42.Kc2 Kb4 43.Kb2 a3+ 44.Ka2 Ka4 45.Kb1 Kb3 46.Ka1 a2 47.h4 gxh4 48.g5 h3 49.g6 Kc3 0-1