Harika, who played with black pieces against Bulgarian Grandmaster and former Women's World Champion Stefanova Antoaneta, regained equality at an early stage of the game itself and held on to it to grab another half a point.
"Both of us landed in unknown territory at the very start. But I stabilised quickly and started pushing for a win. My opponent decided to play it safe and repeated her moves to force a draw," said Harika.
Harika, who is seeded fourth in the tournament, will face Khotenashvili Bela of Georgia in the ninth round on Tuesday, with Monday being a rest day. She just needs to keep her wits about in three more rounds to script one of her biggest victories at the world level.