The most recent issue of Chess Today contained an endgame study which has a very practical application for tournament players. Without giving too much of the answer away, the study (White to play and draw - Prokes 1939), shows a clever defensive idea when your opponent has a Queen on the c (or f) file and their king is nearer to the edge of the board (eg on the a or b file). This is particularly applicable in a Rook v Pawns ending (as this study shows) as you can allow you opponent to queen and yet still escape with a draw.
For those who can't work it out themselves, the answer is in the comments section.
1. Kb8! The rook needs to be able to freely move across the 7th rank (ie a7,b7,c7) 1. ... a4 (1. ... Kb2 2.Rb7+ Kc3 {2. ... Ka3 3.Rc7=} 3.Rc7+ Kd3 4.Rd7+ Ke4 5.Rc7=) 2.Rxa7 a3 3.Rxa3 Kb2 4.Ra7! c1(Q) 5.Rb7+ = as the Black king can never move to the c file without losing the queen to Rc7+
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