Division 1 Newcastle A 3 2 0 1 4 Stafford A 2 2 0 0 4 Cheddleton A 2 1 0 1 2 H C Kings 3 0 0 3 0

Division 3 Cheddleton E 6 5 1 0 11 Kidsgrove 6 4 1 1 9 Meir A 6 2 2 2 6 Alsager B 6 2 1 3 5 Newcastle C 6 2 1 3 5 Cheddleton F 6 2 1 3 5 Stafford B 6 1 2 3 4 H Chapel Pawns 6 1 1 4 3

Division 5 Meir D 4 2 2 0 6 Meir C 4 2 1 1 5 Fenton D 3 2 0 1 4 Cheddleton J 4 1 1 2 3 Fenton C 4 0 2 2 2 Cheddleton I 3 0 2 1 2

Division 2 Macclesfield 7 6 1 0 13 H Chapel Knights 7 4 1 2 9 Cheddleton C 7 4 0 3 8 Newcastle B 6 3 0 3 6 Cheddleton B 6 2 2 2 6 H Chapel Rooks 5 2 1 2 5 Cheddleton D 5 2 1 2 5 Fenton A 7 2 0 5 4 Alsager A 6 0 0 6 0

Division 4 Fenton B 5 5 0 0 10 Meir B 6 3 1 2 7 Newcastle E 5 3 0 2 6 Newcastle D 5 2 1 2 5 Alsager C 5 2 0 3 4 Cheddleton H 5 2 0 3 4 H C Tiny Pawns 5 0 0 5 0

The fixture backlog grew slightly, with the visits of Cheddleton I to Fenton D, B to Newcastle B and Intermediate Cup team to Alsager all postponed, mostly at the request of the home teams. On the plus side two previously postponed matches were played, so the net increase in outstanding matches was just one.

In division one Cheddleton A moved into contention with their win against Holmes Chapel, but as this was the only match played in December this competition continues to progress in slow motion.

All the second division teams played at least once. Knights were the big movers, two wins taking them into second place. This however did not stop Macclesfield extending their lead to four points. Most teams play three matches in January. If they don't make a dent in Macclesfield's lead in that time our Northern outpost will be well on the way to claiming the title.

At the other end of the table Alsager A are suffering considerably from player availability problems and have no points to prove it.

The third division table looks remarkably neat, with all teams having played six games. Perhaps it is something to do with the third being the only division suffering no postponements. A case of third best perhaps. Stafford B have finally lifted themselves off the bottom, but there will be no title challenge from them this year. Indeed one of the other teams will have to show remarkable form if the fight for top spot is not to be a straight Cheddleton E v Kidsgrove contest.

Into the fourth where all teams were active in December, yet the only positional change was for Newcastle D to leapfrog Alsager C in the more anonymous part of the table. At the top someone will need to put a dent into Fenton B's 100% record if they are to be stopped from running away with the title.

All teams also saw action in division five, with Fenton D jumping off the bottom to become the Meir teams closest challengers. But I still want to see more action before making any predictions about the final outcome here.

Elsewhere Kidsgrove removed Stafford from the Intermediate Cup, and Dave Buxto shared the honours with Alex Richardson in the second GP in this year's series.

RR v Phil Birks after 7 ... d5

r1bq1rk1/pp2bppp/2n1pn2/2pp4/2P5/PP2PN2/1BQP1PPP/RN2KB1R w
We join the game after seven moves. The pawn structure is a strong hint that Phil has played the opening in a more classical fashion than RR, conceding white's birthright edge. Now instead of contesting the centre with d4, he concedes the initiative with a wimpy d3.

8 d3 b6, 9 Nbd2 Bb7, 10 cxd5 exd5, 11 d4 Rc8
12 dxc5 bxc5 This seems an eminently sensible recapture to me, though Mr Stockfish seems to think keeping the c-file open is better, based on the idea of then immediately shoving his d-pawn against my uncastled king. Back to level.

13 Bd3 g6, 14 0-0 Na5, 15 Be5 I'm sure there is a good reason for wanting to put my bishop on the h2b8 diagonal, its just that said reason now escapes me.

15 ... Nd7, 16 Bf4 Bf6, 17 Rab1 Found it hard to decide which file I wanted the rook on. Perhaps I should simply have gone for doubling major pieces and dumped it on c1.

17 ... Re8

RR v Phil Birks after 17 ... Re8

So far Phil has been able to establish a position with major pieces on all the usual files (c, d and e), with bishops on the long diagonals ready to take control when he advances his hanging pawns. In return RR has vague diagonal threats towards blacks king. Sensible play would now involve moves such as Rfd1 and Qa2 from RR, basically saying "prove that your position is better". Instead RR tries to turn his vague threats into something more discerable.

18 g4 Opening the h1a8 diagonal hardly counts as the cleverest option available to white.

18 ... c4, 19 bxc4 dxc4, 20 Be4 Showing RR's plan to justify g4. However Phil simply sidesteps the exchange of bishops, switching his attention to supporting his c-pawn which is now well on its way to escaping to victory. My silicon advisor tells me that in a couple of ill-judged move (g4 and Be4) I've built up a deficit equivalent roughly to a piece. Isn't losing easy?

20 ... Ba6, 21 Rfd1 Qe7 A momentary respite. c3 would have threatened several combinations leading to the unpleasantness of c2 and/or the loss of a minor piece.

22 Bd5 Nc5, 23 Nf1 getting out of the way of the c-pawn, but surely continuing my 'attack' with g5 would at least be consistent with earlier play. Truth is I'm refusing to acknowledge that my position is less than good, and therefore playing as if I have all the time I need to make kingside progress.

RR v Phil Birks after 23 Nf1

23 ... Nd3 Was pleased not to be confronted with Qd7, hitting the g-pawn. Protecting this with h3 now allows Nd3 and I'm short of a way of saving my light squared bishop without giving up the dark-squared one. That would have been a fine mess.

24 g5 Bg7, 25 Bg3 which solves neither the problem of my hanging a-pawn, nor of the soon to be advancing black c-pawn. 25 ... Qc5, 26 e4 A move that I've been wanting to play for a while so that my f1 knight can go e3 and g4 and threaten the holes around his king. at the very least I would then be able to take his dark squared bishop out of the game, so giving a bit more breathing space around his c-pawn. But it's all so slow.

26 ... Bb5 Phil's turn to come up with a non-move. Creating no threat on the move, he also ties his queen down to the bishop's defence, thereby effectively protecting my a-pawn. I'm glad I'm not he only one who can come up with such efforts. Now I've a bit of time for furthering my own prospects.

27 Ne3 Nb3 An RR style panic move. Admitting that the last move was wrong and returning the bishop to a6 is considerably better.

28 Rxd3 Happy to give up the rook for both knights
28 ... Qxa3 Phil goes from bad to worse.

RR v Phil Birks after 28 ... Qxa3

My gut reaction here was Nxc4, which is best, but my brain refused to calculate all the possibly subsequent sequences of exchanges, so I just continued with the rook for two knights idea. The c-pawn also falls and the game now has an entirely different character.

Nic has kindly volunteered to taxi me to Telford for the Shropshire Congress, so here I am on Saturday ready for round one, with Steve Jukes opposite.

RR v Steve Jukes after 13 N(f3)d2

r1b2rk1/p1pnqp2/1p1p2pb/3Pp2p/1PP1P2P/2N5/P1QNBPP1/R3K2R b
Despite my queenside advances I'm seriously considering castling long with intent to switch attention to the kingside. Thus my last move is intended both as a cover for my king to castle behind and to free my bishops support of g4. So plan is lock the queenside, castle long, and play on g and h-files. My silicon friend who I have running whilst writing up my diary says don't try this at home, or anywhere else!

13 ... a5, 14 b5 That's the queenside pawns sorted, though there is tons of space behind for pieces.
14 ... Nf6, 15 0-0-0 a4, 16 a3 That's a couple more elements available for a future plan - swap most bits off and snaffle his a-pawn, and relocate my c3 knight to c6 or a6 via a2 and b4.
16 ... Nd7 heading my way, 17 Kb2 taking the a-pawn this early is not part of my plans, though possibly I should not be concerned about his loading the a-file with major pieces as a reply.

17 ... Nc5 (I shall need to keep an eye on this knight)
18 Rdg1 Bg4, 19 Bxg4 hxg4 Disrupting the pawns seems a better idea than kicking the white-squared bishop with f3 as the latter would allow his other bishop to e3 and d4 making my king uncomfortable.

20 Nf1 Kg7, 21 h5 Bg5, 22 Qe2 Rh8, 23 hxg6 fxg6, 24 Qxg4 clang!

RR v Steve Jukes after 24 Qxg4??

Two question marks are not enough. Too much attention to what I want to do, and not enough on what he can. Don't want to exchange rooks as that would leave him with control of the h-file, so increase pressure on the g4 pawn with Nh2. Or move the king somewhere safer.

24 ... Nd3+ Bet you saw that coming. Said I'd have to keep an eye on that knight. Maybe if I play Kc2 he'll grab the f-pawn immediately and I can get two rooks for queen.

25 Kc2 Rxh1, 26 Rxh1 Nxf2 Regular readers will know that RR is not good at resigning, though playing on a rook down is definitely pushing it. Somehow I've got to start reducing the pawn count, which means getting a knight into his pawns.

27 Qe6 Nxh1, 28 Nh2 Qxe6, 29 dxe6 Re8, 30 Nd5 Rxe6, 31 Nxc7 Rf6 Offers the exchange as further simplification, but instead I elect to bring the other knight into the game, covering f2.
32 Ng4 Rf4 Now I have no choice. But at least it gives the additional chance that if I can liquidate all the pawns, even if I have to sac my last knight to do so, he may not know the bishop and knight mate.
33 Ne6+ Kg8, 34 Nxf4 Bxf4, 35 Nf6+ Kf7, 36 Nd5 Nf2
37 Nxb6 Nxe4, 38 Nxa4 Nc5, 39 Nxc5 dxc5, 40 Kd3 Ke7
41 a4 Kd6, 42 a5 Kc7, 43 Ke4 Bd2, 44 Kxe5 Bxa5
45 Kf6 Kd6, 46 g4 Bd8+, 47 Kxg6 Ke5, 48 Kf7 Kd4
49 Ke8 Kxc4 ½ - ½

RR v Steve Jukes, Final position

After 50 Kxd8, Kxb5 both remaining pawns queen.

Stefan Tennant v RR after 8 0-0

r2qk2r/pbpnbppp/1p1ppn2/8/3P1B2/3BPN2/PPPNQPPP/R4RK1 b
Its difficult to resist the temptation to break the bishop pair, so I won't. Resist that is.

8 ... Nh5, 9 Bg3 0-0 No hurry to lop the bishop off.

10 h4 Nxg3 Now that the h-pawn has moved the exchange on g3 weakens his kingside defences. However he is playing like a man with designs on my king, so maybe he doesn't mind.

11 fxg3 c5, 12 c3 h6 hardly necessary, but does no harm either.

13 Ne4 Aggressively posted, but going where?

13 ... Rc8, 14 Nh2 c4 Not wanting any nonsense with Ba6 from white.

15 Bc2 Qc7, 16 Qh5 He's playing a different game to me. Time to grab some pawns.

16 ... Bxe4, 17 Bxe4 d4, 18 Bc2 Qxg3 (one), 19 Rf3 Qxh4 (two)

Chris Lewis v RR after 7 ... 0-0

rnbq1rk1/ppp1bppp/1n2p3/4N3/3P4/1B6/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R w
So far so even.

8 f4 Pushing pawns is fun, but can he really neglect king safety?

8 ... c4, 9 c3 cxd4, 10 cxd4 Nc6 Give me a target and I'm happy to hit it. Not worried about creating an isolated pawn of my own. Reckon in this position open lines and diagonals are more important.

11 Nxc6 bxc6, 12 0-0 Bf6, 13 Be3 Ba6, 14 Rf3 bent on kingside aggression

Chris Lewis v RR after 14 Rf3

Now c4 and the game is over as a contest, but I convinced myself he could cause trouble on the a2g8 diagonal with the help of f5, so decided to eliminate that risk instead. Needless to say my play only served to give white better survival chances.

14 ... Bc4, 15 Nd2 Bxb3, 16 Nxb3 Nd5, 17 g4 Every time white makes an aggressive move Stockfish says 'I want to be black'. And then I let white off the hook.

17 ... Qd6, 18 Bc1 Bd8, 19 a4 a5, 20 Nc5 Bc6
21 Ne4 Qd7, 22 Rg3 Ne7, 23 Be3 Rfd8, 24 Ra3 Bxd4 the d-pawn finally falls, and there is no way back for white.

25 Rd3 Bxe3+, 26 Rgxe3 Nd5, 27 Qf3 Qa7, 28 g5 hoping for a snap mate on g7, but its too slow

28 ... Nxe3, 29 Rxe3 Rd3 0-1

RR v Athar Mehmood after 31 Qx(B)d6

38 Qxa5 Qb1+, 39 Kg2 d3 Now it starts getting hairy. Do not even think of Qd2 to blockade the pawn, or rying to get the king across. that way lies disaster.

40 Qd5 Qc2, 41 Qe4+ g6, 42 g4 to inhibit f5. However this is unnecessary as f5 could be met with Qxe5 and threats of perpetual. Hence I could have started an advance of a queenside pawn.

42 ... Qe2, 43 Qc4 Kg7, 44 h3 e4, 45 Qd4+ Kg8
46 Qd6+ Kg7, 47 Qd4+ Kh7, 48 Qf6 ½ - ½

RR v Ray Hyde after 8 ... Bd6

r1bqk2r/1p3ppp/p1nb1n2/2pp4/3P4/1P2PN2/P3BPPP/RNBQ1RK1 w
RR elects to pursue a simple plan. Isolate the black d-pawn, swap off material so that the d-pawn becomes weak enough to drop. Win the endgame. Here goes.

9 dxc5 Bxc5, 10 Bb2 Be6, 11 a3 0-0, 12 Qc2 Bd6
13 Nbd2 Rc8, 14 Rac1 Nd4, 15 Qd1 (Qd3 better, as it leaves rooks connected)
15 ... Rxc1, 16 Bxc1 Nxe2+, 17 Qxe2 Qe7, 18 b4 Rc8
19 Nd4 Ng4, 20 N2f3 Ne5, 21 Nxe5 Bxe5, 22 Bb2 Bd6
23 f4 f5, 24 Qd3 Qf7

RR v Ray Hyde after 24 ... Qf7

It is possible, I am sure, to take issue with several moves from both players, but from RR's point of view the most important thing is that his plan is still intact. Indeed
25 Nxe6 Qxe6, 26 Rd1 and the d-pawn's survival is severely under threat. However, having nursed his plan this far, RR suddenly changed tack, thinking he saw chances on the kingside.

25 Rf3 g6 Ray sees the same shadows as RR, but this nudge merely helps the white attack.

26 Nxe6 Qxe6, 27 Qd4 Rc7, 28 Qh8+ Kf7, 29 Qxh7+ Ke8
30 Qh8+ Kd7, 31 Rh3 Bxf4 The e-pawn is pinned against mate, so cannot recapture. It looks like black has found a counter-attack, but white's attack is faster. However had he found Rc2 black would still be in the game.

8/8/8/6k1/5p2/5P1P/6K1/8 w
1 Kf2 Kh4, 2 Ke2 Kxh3, 3 Kd3 Kg3, 4 Ke4 (right)

Black to move has to surrender his pawn and with it the game. So perhaps white shouldn't have agreed the draw.

Try again.

1 Kf2 Kh4, 2 Ke2 Kxh3, 3 Kd3 Kg2

Just a small change. White has to defend his pawn. Ke4 quickly leads to the position right except that it is white to play and hence white who has to abandon his pawn and the game. Ke2 fares no better for after Kg3 by black white cannot maintain protection of his pawn.

Indeed white is lost as soon as he plays 2 Ke2, unless black goes wrong. White was indeed correct to take the draw.
Now another small change. Move the whole position one rank further up the board.

1 Kf3 Kh5, 2 Ke3 Kxh4, 3 Kd4

Now if black is careless and plays Kg4, white sets up a win with Ke5. If black doesn't go wrong

3 ... Kg3, 4 Ke3 Kg4, 5 Ke2 Kxf4, 6 Kf2 and the opposition holds the draw. (Note the importance of 5 Ke2 to set up the opposition. If black is allowed the opposition he wins.) Thus one rank further up the board and white has a free go at giving black the chance to wrong.

RR v Stephane Pedder after 10 ... h6

r2q1rk1/pb1nbpp1/1p1ppn1p/2p5/2PP4/1P2PN2/PBQNBPPP/R4RK1 w
Don't you just love trying to decide where to put rooks? Cases can be made for any two out of the c, d and e files, though c and d looks where the action is being lined up. However RR elects to delay the decision and encourage the immediate opening of the centre:

11 e4 cxd4, 12 Nxd4 Rc8, 13 Rac1 Nh7 After the game Stephane berated himself for this move, but whilst that might be better moves available, this is hardly a game changer as far as the rsult is concerned, though it does set the pattern for the game by encouraging me to commit to an attack. Can't resist the temptation to keep the knight out of g5, so

14 f4 For once my silicon advisor does not snigger at this advance
14 ... d5

RR v Stephane Pedder after 14 ... d5

Now e5 is very tempting, cramping the area around his king, so setting up a slow squeeze from which escape is difficult. Not worried about
15 e5 cxd5, 16 Nxd5 as he cannot take advantage of the knight pinned against my queen as the other knight covers b5. However RR is feeling more gung-ho, so plays for an open position.

15 exd5 exd5, 16 Bf3 Wanted to play Nf5, but having opened the position didn't feel that allowing the exchange of dark squared bishops was best. What do I know? So went for this pin instead.

16 ... Nhf6, 17 Nf5 Bc5+, 18 Kh1 Nb8 Stephane didn't mention this knight retreat, but Stocky hates it, suggesting black should be playing on the e-file with Re8.

19 Qd3 (Qb1 more sensible) Na6, 20 cxd5 Nb4
21 Qb1 Bxd5, 22 a3 Bxf3, 23 Rxf3 Nbd5

RR v Stephane Pedder after 23 Nbd5

Now I want to play
24 Rg3 Nh5, 25 Nxh6+ Kh8, 26 Rh3 but Ndxf4 then puts a halt to my fun. Whether at a slower time control I would have found
26 Bxg7+ Nxg7, 27 Rh3 when both his queen and king are in serious danger of death we'll never know. It is definitely true though that there is a limit to how big a think one can allow oneself, since if the thoughts bring nothing forwards, there is no time for useful thought later.
However knight up can't be bad, so

24 Nc4 b5, 25 Ne5 Ne7

Time for fun

We join the game for move 12. Black has designs on the e-pawn, but can he safely take it if white castles?

Doug Barnett v RR after 11 ... Qc7

rn2k2r/p1qb1ppp/4p3/1ppnP3/8/2P5/PP1NBPPP/R1BQK2R w
12 c4 Doug elects to force black into conceding an isolated pawn
12 ... Nf4, 13 cxb5 Qxe5, 14 Nc4 forcing exchanges on e2
14 ... Qxe2+, 15 Qxe2 Nxe2, 16 Kxe2 Now RR can grab the b5 pawn and sit comfortably a pawn up. With queens off he is no longer worried about his king being trapped in the middle. Could (should?) be a case of "win a pawn, win the game".

16 ... Ke7 Pardon? Worried about
16 ... Bxb5, 17 Nd6+ winning the bishop? Sorry not legal. The knight would be pinned against the white king. A case of the pin is mightier than the fork. Or perhaps he's played the follow up move to the capture first, having spent time deciding whether or not to castle in due course. Even RR is not sure what goes on in his mind, so you dear reader have no chance. Anyway, he has just turned a good position into a lost one.

17 Be3 Surely a4 comes first? Doug throws the advantage back to a position of near equality. Now RR can take that c pawn.

17 ... Rc8 RR's turn to say "No, no. I insist you win".

18 a4 "Ok, if you insist".
18 ... Be8 RR starts trying to unscramble his pieces. Diagram right.

Doug Barnett v RR after 18 ... Be8

19 Rhd1 Understandable, but doesn't b6 win easily?
a) 19 b6 axb6, Nxb6 bye-bye exchange
b) 19 b6 Bxc5+, 20 Kf6 Nd6 all variations now lead to material loss
c) 19 b6 other, 20 b7 and a rook goes.

19 ... Nd7, 20 Rac1 Rc7 RR deepens his trench. having vaccilated between playing Nb6 and f6, he comes up with a move that positively encourages Doug to rearrange his minor pieces in a useful manner.

21 Bf4 Rcc8, 22 Nd6 Rcb8, 23 Nc4 Rc8 Perhaps I can escape with a draw by repetition.

24 Bd6+ No chance. Doug introduces plan B.

24 ... Kf6, 25 a5 Nb8, 26 b6 Bc6, 27 Ne5 (Be5+ vacating d6 for the knight is surely better)

27 ... Bb5+, 28 Ke1 moves the king away from rather than towards the action.

28 ... axb6, 29 axb6 Ra2 Gets one rook out of the line of fire.

30 b7 Rd8 vague thoughts of Rxd6 and then picking up the knight.

31 Rxc5 The pawn goes at last, hitting my bishop and protecting his knight against my vague hopes. Diagram left

Doug Barnett v RR after 31 Rxc5

Doug has plenty of threats such as Rc8 or
Bxb8 Rxb8, Rxb5 or simply
Rxb5 which also sets up the threat of
Bxb8 Rxb8, Nd7+ picking up the rook.
At the very least I must protect my bishop:

31 ... Bxb2
Now he can play
32 Bxb8 Rxb8, 33 Rxb5 Rxb5, 34 Nd7+ to emerge a piece for a pawn to the good
whereas grabbing the bishop first allows
32 Rxb5 Rxb5, 33 Bxb8 Rxd1+, 34 Kxd1 Rxb7 covering d7. Black emerges with rook and pawn for knight and bishop and so lives to fight on.
What will he choose?

32 Bxb8 Oops. Sorry Doug. There is another line.

32 ... Re2+ 0-1
33 Kf1 (forced) Rxd1# would follow.

John Yee v RR after 46 c4

8/8/2p5/1p1n1kpp/p1PP4/P2K3P/1P4N1/8 w
John has been running out of moves, and with neither king nor knight retreat looking attractive, the c4 push at least held out promise of disrupting the queenside. Needless to say black should see this coming and effectively have the rest of the game planned, but still recalculating as the game unfolds to check that nothing has been missed, or new options arisen as a result of the opponents moves. basic idea is take the knights off and queen a kingside pawn, which can be done before white queens his d-pawn.

46 ... Nf4+, 47 Nxf4 bxc4+, 48 Kxc4 Kxf4, 49 Kc5 g4
50 hxg4 hxg4, 51 Kxc6 g3, 52 d5 g2, 53 d6 g1Q, 54 d7

John Yee v RR after 46 c4

From here the plan is clear. White's only hope is to queen his pawn. Force the white king onto d8, then advance the black king. Repeat until the white pawn drops and mate is delivered. A credible sequence would be:
54 ... Qd4, 55 Qc7 Qc5+, 56 Kb7 Qd6, 57 Kc8 Qc6+
58 Kd8 Ke5, 59 Ke7 Ke6+, 60 Kd8 Kd6 ...

All this should be easily calculable from the diagrammed position. From which you'll gather RR didn't. With over ten minutes still available RR convinced himself there might be a repetition in there and looked for other options. How about grabbing the b-pawn, exchanging the queen that white would create, and winning the game with the a-pawn. Certainly RR's king would get there before whites. Only danger is that of confinement. However you won't be surprised that if RR couldn't see through to the mate above clearly, then his checking for confinement was also incomplete. However he took it on trust (fool) and the game continued:

54 ... Qc1+, 55 Kd6 Qxb2(w), 56 d8Q Qd4+, 57 Ke7 Qxd8+
58 Kxd8 Ke4, 59 Kc7(x) Kd4(y), 60 Kc6(z) Kc4, 61 Kb6 Kb3 0-1

In fact the moves marked w, x, y and z are all blunders which should alter the result of the game: w turns a win for RR into a draw, x makes it a win again, y turns it back into a draw, and z gives the final decisive twist back to a win. It is all to do with confinement, which to his shame RR knows about, was aware might arise, yet still walked into.

Confinement

Suppose white can create the position shown in the diagram left by playing Kc3 when black captures the a3 pawn. Black can no longer both get his king off the a-file and keep the enemy king from a1. Clearly from the diagram play would start
1 ... Ka2, 2 Kc2 and white is content to dance his king between c2 and c1 unless black ever plays Kb3 or Kb4 in which case Kb1 from white now secures the draw.

So what went wrong in the game? White should plan to sweep round to the kingside of the black king which approaches the a3 pawn by a series of horizontal moves (ie along a rank) and diagonal ones. If white can arrange for there to be just two ranks between the kings when black still has at least two horizontal moves to make and white able to move kingside of black, then on each of those horizontal moves white can gain a rank to end level with the black king. so back to move 59 and try

59 Ke7 Ke5 (taking opposition is normally best)
60 Kf7 Kd4, 61 Ke6 Kc4, 62 Ke5 gains a rank
62 ... Kb3, 63 Kd4 Kxa3, 64 Kc3 confinement ½-½

Having seen the principle, you should also be able to check that other lines of approach to the a-pawn for black are no better.