Five white pawns on a5, b5, c5, d5 and e5 against four on a7, b7, c7 and e7. The extra pawn decides: with a series of exchanges in the centre, 1.d6!, White squeezes through the bottleneck and escorts an unstoppable d-file passer home.
The blow 1.d6! Play the main line through to the queen.
Five white pawns from a5 to e5 against four on a7, b7, c7 and e7. With a series of exchanges through the centre, 1.d6!, White squeezes through the bottleneck and escorts the d-pawn home.
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At the branches several defences are available - take any of them. «Back» returns one move, «Main line» plays the principal variation automatically.
The blow 1.d6! starts a series of exchanges: 1...cxd6 2.exd6 exd6 3.cxd6. Once all the captures are done, a single white passer is left in the narrow bottleneck on d, and there is nothing to stop it.
The extra (fifth) pawn is exactly the resource that turns the exchanges into a passer.
In the sequence of captures each side gives up several pawns, but thanks to the extra pawn White is left with a d-file passer while Black is left with scattered pawns a long way from promotion.
After that it is simple: d6-d7-d8=Q, and Black cannot keep up.
What to avoid, so the breakthrough does not turn into a draw.
The breakthrough goes through the central bottleneck with 1.d6: that is where the extra pawn turns into a passer. Blows on the edges are easier to neutralise.
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With the blow 1.d6! and a series of exchanges in the centre: after 1...cxd6 2.exd6 exd6 3.cxd6 an unstoppable d-file passer is left.
White has an extra pawn (five against four). After all the exchanges in the centre it is that pawn which is left as the passer.
No: the series of exchanges is forced, and White is left with a passer in the d-file bottleneck that cannot be caught.
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Work through the other pawn studies in the VC series on the board - breakthroughs, races and overtakes.
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