Carlsen, who halved the point with GM Wesley So the round before, is in joint lead with GM Sanan Sjugirov of Russia and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan.
Mamedyarov and Sjugirov posted wins over Indian GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Russian GM Dmitry Jakovenko, respectively.
Anish, playing with black, used the Sicilian Najdorf to neutralise Carlsen. While the draw didn’t get the Dutchman closer, it did keep him within striking distance.
“I played the Berlin for I don’t know how long. I had never played the Najdorf in my life...I think I’m playing it quite well in the games that I’ve played here, which is very surprising. I have no idea why,” Giri said after the game.
India’s Harika Dronavalli (right) beat Iran’s Khademalsharieh Sarasadat.
Despite the recent success, Giri still holds fondness for his bread-and-butter defense: “Najdorf is a great opening, when it works. Other times you pay for it. The Berlin is always a great opening.”
Both players tried their best to complicate the game. Giri even sacrificed an exchange to get a solid central pawn majority. But before things got out of hand Carlsen sacrificed the exchange back and steered the game into calmer waters.
Grandmaster So also split the point with former world champion Ukrainian GM Ruslan Ponomariov in 41 moves of the Ruy Lopez opening to stay half a point off the pace.
Employing the Berlin against the popular Spanish opening, So used his uncastled but active king to gain equality and later a slight positional advantage but Ponomariov, who reigned as world champion from 2002 to 2004, opted to play it safe and ignored the former’s ploy to complicate matters.
So and Ponomariov decided to draw when they could not find anything out of a closed position. The standoff sent So in a heavy 16-man chase pack with five points apiece, half a point behind the leaders.
If past games of Mamedyarov are anything to go by, then you can be relatively sure that the Azeri player has come to Doha in a creative mood. Creativity is not an unknown commodity when it comes to Mamedyarov but his games at the Qatar Masters Open 2015 have just surpassed all borders and lie somewhere on the edge of insanity. Although in his defense it must be said that in the seventh round it wasn’t him but Ganguly who started the madness with 7…Qd3!? This was a dream scenario for Mamedyarov who revels in unusual positions.
The Indian grandmaster also showcased a lot of ingenious ideas, and the advantage fluctuated many times before it settled down into an opposite coloured bishop endgame where Mamedyarov was two pawns up. There were some technical difficulties, but he converted the position, nonetheless.
