Playing with black side of closed variation in Sicilian defence game, Nimmy stood firm with her strong defensive tactics against the top seed rival and split the point after 33 moves to stay at the top.
Top seed Divyasree along with Bharathi, Mahalakshmi, Saranya, Michelle Catherina (all from Tamil Nadu) and Swati Mohota of West Bengal are at second spot with a drift of half-point from the leader.
In the eighth round matches, Bharathi and Mahalakshmi signed the peace treaty after 64 moves while Priya and Michelle had the same result against Sahajasri of Andhra Pradesh and Amruta Mokal of Maharashtra respectively.
Swati overcame five-time National Champion Bagyashree Thipsay in a well-fought eighth round battle while Saranya got the better off Shweta Gole of Maharashtra.
Three more rounds remain in this eleven-round Swiss system Championship, which will conclude on Sunday.
