World Champion Viswanathan Anand defeated Bulgarian challenger Veselin Topalov, 1.5 – 0.5 yesterday, in the first round of the 20th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament at Monaco. Anand got off to a flier in the final edition of this unique event winning the blindfold game with white pieces and signed peace in the rapid to get another good result against Topalov. With four players in front and 20 games still remaining in this 12-players double round robin event, Anand shares the fifth spot along with Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who scored a similar victory against Hikaru Nakamura of the United States.