Viswanathan Anand with three points shared the second place, along with Sergey Karjakin, after the fifth round of the Shamkir Chess 2019 tournament here.
Reigning World champion Magnus Carlsen led with 3.5 points in the 10-player event held in memory of Azerbaijani GM Vugar Hashimov, who passed away aged 28 in 2014.
The Indian, who had lost to Carlsen in the second round, posted a win over Dutch GM Anish Giri in the fifth for his second win.
He had beaten local player Shahriyar Mammadyarov in the third round and shared the point with David Navara and Ding Liren in the first and fourth.
The standings (after fifth round): 1. Magnus Carlsen 3.5 points; 2. Viswanathan Anand, Sergey Karjakin 3; 4. Teimour Radjabov, David Navara, Ding Liren 2.5; 7. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Veselin Topalov 2; 9. Anish Giri, Alexander Grischuk 1.5.