Last round game W Buchanan v A Muir

[Clement Sreeves]

Maybe 5.Kg2 Kh4 6.h3 Ra6 7.Ra3 a4 8.Ra2 a3 9.Kh2 but it's pretty risky allowing the a-pawn that far.

[WBuchanan]

"Maybe 5.Kg2 Kh4 6.h3 Ra6 7.Ra3 a4 8.Ra2 a3 9.Kh2 but it's pretty risky allowing the a-pawn that far."

That's more or less the idea but your suggestion guards the third rank when B abandons the a-pawn, so what next? Maybe retreat the BK to h6 and play g5 (to stop W betting the passed pawn) then come back round the long way. Might prove difficut to defend say with the Kings on e3 and e5 - the usual zugswang threat. W can get h4 in before that and B would swap pawns, but the situation with just the one other pawn each may be the same, with the WK unable to move either side and the BR able to guard the f-pawn from the side to prevent the conuterattack. Also with Black's other pawn being a bishops pawn W probably can't get down to drawn 2 v 0.