Lessons From Prague VIII

MY round-eight game reached the following position after 40 moves.

The game is completely equal, according to Stockfish17 and Dragon1

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I resisted the temptation to play 41.Bd4?, when 41...Bxd4 42.Kxd4 improves the situation of the white king, which is now on the fourth rank while Black's remains on the third rank.

But after the obvious 42...Kd6, White is lost thanks to Black's ability to create a passed pawn on the queenside, eg 43.Kd3 Kc6 44.Kd4 Kb6 45.e5 fxe5+ 46.Kxe5 a5 etc.

LESSON: a drawn piece-and-pawn-ending can easily become a lost endgame in transposing to a purely pawn-ending.