In the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament going on in Monaco, World Champion Viswanathan Anand defeated his nearest rival Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the blindfold game to go one up in the ninth-round mini-match. Anand could now be nearer to Armenian Levon Aronian who held a three point lead against the Indian ace. With just five games remaining, Aronian is 1.5 points clear of Carlsen and two points ahead of Anand in the combined standing.