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Anand wins rapid title

NEW DELHI, APRIL 2. World rapid chess champion Viswanathan Anand had to be satisfied with the title in the shorter version of the game on the concluding day of the Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament at Hotel Grand in Monte Carlo on Thursday.

Anand drew his last rapid encounter with Boris Gelfand in 25 moves of Catalan to take the title with 7.5 points.

However, the defending champion's last-ditch efforts to catch up with eventual overall champions Alexander Morozevich and Vladimir Kramnik fell just short.

After beating Gelfand in the blindfold game on Thursday, Anand had come within half point of the leaders. But Morozevich and Kramnik went beyond Anand's reach by winning their final-round rapid matches against Peter Svidler and Veselin Topalov, respectively.

Morozevich, who also won the blindfold title, shared the honours with Kramnik after tallying 14.5 points, one clear of third-placed Anand.

The results (11th round, rapid): Alexander Morozevich bt Peter Svidler; Vladimir Kramnik bt Veselin Topalov; Boris Gelfand drew with Viswanathan Anand; Vassily Ivanchuk bt Francisco Vallejo; Peter Leko drew with Evgeny Bareev; Alexei Shrirov lost to Loek van Wely.

Standings (overall): 1-2. Alexander Morozevich (Rus) and Vladimir Kramnik (Rus) (14.5 points), 3. Viswanathan Anand (13.5), 4. Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr) (13), 5-6. Peter Leko (Hun) and Evgeny Bareev (Rus) (12.5), 7. Peter Svidler (Rus) (11.5), 8. Alexei Shirov (Spa) (10.5), 9. Veselin Topalov (Bul) (10), 10. Boris Gelfand (Isr) 8.5), 11. Loek van Wely (Ned) (7.5), 12. Francisco Vallejo (Spa) (3.5).

Blindfold: 1. Morozevich (8.5), 2. Kramnik (8), 3. Ivanchuk (7), 4. Leko (6.5); 5-6. Anand and Shirov (6), 7-8. Svidler and Bareev (5.5), 9. Topalov (4.5), 10. Wely (3.5), 11. Gelfand (3.5) and 12. Vallejo (2). Rapid: 1. Anand (7.5), 2. Bareev (7), 3. Kramnik (6.5), 4-7. Svidler, Morozevich, Leko and Ivanchuk (6), 8-9. Topalov and Gelfand (5.5), 10. Shirov (4.5), 11. Wely (4) and 12. Vallejo (1.5).

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