[Event "Women's World Cup 2025"] [Site "Batumi, Georgia"] [Date "2025.07.09"] [Round "9.6"] [White "Muzychuk, Mariya"] [Black "Cervantes Landeiro, Thalia"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2486"] [BlackElo "2278"] [Variant "Standard"] [Annotator "Foisor,Sabina"] [FEN "6k1/6p1/3BKp2/5P2/1P2P3/3r4/8/R4b2 b - - 0 54"] [ECO "?"] [Opening "?"] [StudyName "Women's World Cup"] [ChapterName "Muzychuk, Mariya - Cervantes Landeiro, Thalia"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/fB3lLxYD/KhXzUhYx"] [FEN "6k1/6p1/3BKp2/5P2/1P2P3/3r4/8/R4b2 b - - 0 54"] [SetUp "1"] [Orientation "black"] { Thalia had an amazing comeback in her previous match to edge out Mungulzul and advance to the second round. She fights with confidence and continues to impress, as she saves a lost position against former Women's World Champion GM Mariya Muzychuk. In the following position, Thalia has to be precise and prevent White's b-pawn from advancing. } 54... Bg2?? { This allowed a cute idea for White. } (54... Rf3 { was the way to go, but it is still a slightly inferior position for Black. } 55. Rb1 Bc4+ 56. Kd7 Bb5+ 57. Kc7 Re3 58. Kb6 Bc4 59. Kc5 Rxe4 60. b5 Bxb5 61. Kxb5) 55. e5!! Bd5+ (55... Re3 56. b5 { and there is no way to stop both the passed b-pawn and the soon-to-be-passed f-pawn. }) 56. Ke7 fxe5 57. Bxe5?? { Marya misses the correct move order and Thalia finds the saving idea! } (57. Rg1 { This was the key move that maybe both players missed. Now, f5-f6 is a threat, but also Bd6xe5 would lead to the g7-pawn falling, and, unfortunately there wouldn't have been any way for Black to defend. } 57... Ra3 (57... Kh7 58. Bxe5) (57... Rf3 58. Bxe5 Rxf5 59. Rxg7+ Kh8 60. Rg5+ $18) (57... e4 58. f6 $18) 58. Bxe5 Ra7+ 59. Kd6 Be4 60. f6 Ra6+ 61. Kc5 g6 62. b5 Ra5) 57... Re3! 58. Kd6 { Now, White doesn't have time to win the g-pawn under the right circumstances (i.e. while keeping the passed f-pawn). } 58... Be4 { From here on Thalia defended valiantly and held the former Women's World Champion to a draw! } 59. Rg1 Bxf5 60. Rxg7+ Kf8 61. Rg5 Rd3+ 62. Kc7 Be4 63. Bd6+ Kf7 64. Re5 Bf3 65. b5 Rc3+ 66. Kb6 Rb3 67. Ka6 Rd3 68. Bc5 Kf6 69. Re1 Rd1 70. Re3 Bd5 71. b6 Ra1+ 72. Kb5 Rb1+ 73. Bb4 Bg2 74. Kc5 Kf7 75. Rg3 Bb7 76. Bc3 Ke6 77. Rg7 Be4 78. Bb4 Rc1+ 79. Kd4 Bh1 80. b7 Rd1+ 81. Kc5 Rd8 82. Rh7 Be4 83. Rh6+ Kf5 84. Rd6 Rb8 85. Bc3 Rxb7 { Draw. } 1/2-1/2