Cap d'Agde (France): Viswanathan Anand lived up to his reputation of being the best in Rapid Chess and toppled top seed Vladimir Kramnik of Russia 1.5-0.5 to win the World Rapid Chess Championship that concluded here.

In the two games final, Anand drew the first game and brilliantly outplayed Kramnik in the return game to win the coveted title for the first time. Anand's best was visible in the second game as he crushed the sharp Sicilian Sveshnikov, an opening that had been troubling him for some time.

This championship adds to Anand's splendid run for over a year now. Earlier this year Anand had won the Corus Super Grandmaster tournament at Wijk, Ann Zee, Netherlands, Melody Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament in Monte Carlo and had beaten World's best Woman player Judit Polgar of Hungary in an engrossing 8-games match in the Mainz Chess Classics in Germany.

The 'Tiger from Madras', as he is nicknamed in Chess circles, Anand tamed Kramnik for the second time in a Rapid Match after defeating him in Mainz Classics in 2001.

The opening gave Anand a tangible advantage as Kramnik failed to cope with enormous pressure on the queenside.

PTI