Blocking and "mined" fields.

Hello friends! Today we will analyze together a position step by step, which occurs quite often in chess. It also shows how important the king is in the endgame when he no longer needs to hide.

Although White can easily stop the black pawn on h5, however, then the black king captures three white pawns.
1. Kg3 - Ke4! 

Good move, Black just sacrifices a passed pawn to get to the other flank faster.

2.Kh4 - Kd3
3. Kxh5 - Kc2

The white king is in a deplorable position: he loses his last good, none of the pawns can make a move so as not to be captured.Three pawns are actually blocked by two.
 One pawn can block several at once. Look at the next position:

White with one blocking move (what?) can neutralize two black pawns and then win. Can you find a winning path? This is not difficult, if you remember what an important role the king plays. And remember the following rule:
The king in the endgame should always be actively involved in the game, in contrast to the opening and middlegame.
However, there are fields on which the king should not step. They are "mined!" What does it mean? Look at the following position:

Naturally, each side will try to win the opponent's last pawn. If it's White's move, he could attack her with Ke5, and if it's Black's move, Kc4. But both of these cells are mined if you stand on them first! Suppose white moves:
1.Ke5 Black responds with Kc4.Now the king has to move forward or back and remove the protection from his pawn:
2.Kf4 - Kxd4 3. Kf3 - Kd3!Black has reached the key squares and will now win!
Can White in this position win the game at all with his move?
1.Kf5 (Not on e5, as we have already seen!),Kc6 2.Ke6-Kc7!
3. Kxd5- Kd7! The black king goes into opposition and does not let white into the key squares. Despite winning a pawn, there will be a draw.
Thanks for reading the article and have a nice day!