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Mainz, Aug 20: The World Rapid king and defending Champion Viswanathan Anand broke his own record to lift the World Rapid Title for the 10th Time at the Grenke Leasing World Rapid Championship here.

The first three games against the Chess960 World Champion Levon Aronian were drawn and it was only in the crucial fourth game that Anand could beat Aronian and clinch the memorable win.

Anand and Aronian had yesterday played the last game on the Catalan lines. Aronian quickly wrested the early initiative. Anand playing with black, however, slowly clawed his way back into the game before seizing complete control.

In the end game, Aronian was hard pressed for time but gave a tough fight.

''I am very happy to lift the title for a record 10th time,” a jubilant Anand told UNI.

'This was a very tiring championship as I had to play 14 games with Aronian, but I am happy to win. In my last game Aronian was better in the opening but as the game developed and my knights became more powerful blocking all his pieces, there was no other way left for him,'' he added.