Monaco: Viswanathan Anand is almost sure of winning the rapid title at the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament after he defeated Levon Aronian of Armenia in 57 moves in the ninth round on Wednesday.

The Indian ace’s aspirations of winning a combined sixth title, however, were jolted as he lost the blindfold match against Aronian in 38 moves earlier in the day.

Anand has a two-point lead in the rapid section, but is as many points behind Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the combined standings. With only two rounds to go, it will be difficult for Anand to bridge the gap.

Kramnik still leads the blindfold and combined standings and looks set to win both.

The Russian was held to a draw by Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the blindfold but came back in the rapid to extend his combined lead to 13.5 points.

Anand and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine follow him with 11.5 points each. Aronian is fourth with 10.5.

In the blindfold, Kramnik has eight points — a two-point lead over Boris Gelfand of Israel, Peter Svidler of Russia and Ivanchuk. Anand has four points and is in seventh place.

In the rapid, the Indian GM has 7.5 points, with Kramnik, Aronian and Ivanchuk two points behind. A draw will be enough for Anand to secure the title.