Sofia: Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand was again held to a draw by Russian Peter Svidler in the ninth and penultimate round of Mtel Masters Chess on Saturday.

While Anand slipped to the third spot, Veselin Topalov crushed GM Gata Kamsky of the United States for the second time running to emerge as a joint leader along with the American on 5.5 points in the category-20 event.

Anand inched to 5 points after a hard fought draw with Svidler and is now on sole third spot.