Giving up pawn in KP ending to cement the Draw

Brazilian Jugadore Rafalvar must have thought he was winning the King and Pawn ending based on some of the ICC trash talking that is allowed in moderation at the most popular internet chess club in the entire fuckin WORLD!

He confidently played the pawn move c4 expecting an easy win if Black carelessly recaptured with his d pawn. However, we have a Dvoretsky example of widening the beachhead which essentially gives up a pawn to block all entry points of the menacing White Monarch! Note that Black's d6 pawn performs the vital function of controlling the c5 and e5 squares. So Black aloofly places Kb6 and becomes a King pendulum(another term used freely in the Russian's excellent endgame manual)

PHD and exceptional instructor WIM Alexey Root has produced some excellent lessons on KP endings, but I suspect widening the beachhead is too abstract and deep for her k-6 cute kids. Also GM chess instructor and ICC employee Yermolinsky knows that every Russian school boy is much smarter than their American counterparts. Alex is one helluva writer and commentator(despite his contempt for the Dutch Defence) as his Bally's Las Vegas Casino Hotel friend Shabalov. Some real poker studs in the group! Shahade Chess Bitch Fan club!!

Also see if you can calculate the variation which involves mutual/simultaneous queening if White tries to enter via the b1-h7 diagonal.

Widening the Beachhead

In armed combat, a beachhead is a defended area within the enemy position where two armies are engaged or fighting. Not surprisingly, widening the beachhead occurs in war games like chess. In the following position involving only pawns, Black temporarily goes down a pawn to create a maurading King Zugzwang position.

Black paradoxically, moves his King Backwards to c7 or in reverse which is always winning according to Bill Reuter. This strategy allows the second player to get to the a4 square uncontested as the second diagram shows.

Despite White's extra pawn, he is in Zugzwang and will lose both queenside pawns and the d4 pawn resulting in him likely tipping over his King. Widening the beachhead effectively means spreading out your attacking area(creating a path for your King into your opponent's position) oftentimes at the cost of a pawn. It is a common theme in King and Pawn endings