- This morning when I woke up I had no idea how the tiebreak would go as the match had been so even.
Right now, I am too tense to even be happy. I am just relieved.
- There was no clear trend in the tiebreaks. Game 1 was very tense start. We played reasonably. To be hones I had seen Rb6 but I didn't believe it when it happened. Boris defended extremely well. The result should be a draw but time was a factor but with the fork. In the third game I was just lost of course, but I was lucky that I had some counterplay. It makes it a bit difficult. The score in the match would have equalised right away. In the fourth game I know you are not supposed to play so hard for a draw but at the board I just started hard to do that. Boris had lot of chances in game 3 and 4. - I had the impression that this would be a tough match where neither of us was going to gain any ground. When I was looking at all of Boris' matches, he was doing everything sane and not trying to unbalance it. In the beginning our preparation was more or less balanced. At least in the first six games. The problem in such a tight match is that there were very few chances. It was heavy blow for me to lose Game 7. I count myself extremely fortunate to come back the next day. I was not getting a lot of chances. We continued trying. We were not heading for the tiebreak but I didn't want to do anything insane because then you might not get there. In Game 12 there were interesting ideas. He found c4 which was brilliant. So, again this equalizing tendency just continued. Today, what I can say. I wouldn't say there was some kind of justice in this. You just play the tiebreak. We drew the first 12 games, It's reasonable to play the tiebreaks. I was incredibly tense - my opponent as well - things just went my way. I won because I won.
- Wo helped me?... depends on what you mean help - chat, send a file... there was the official team and that's enough.
- Well today, it's difficult really to claim anything. I would say my nerves held out better. I simply hung on for dear life. I won't claim more than that. If there was a moment I am really happy about is after the eighth game. After Game 7, I really thought I had blown the match. I didn't sleep. Game 8 was very important for my morale. Today, it just comes down to nerves. You just hang in there as best as you can. It will take some time for it to really sink in. I am really relieved. In all fairness this match could have already gone any way. In Khanty Mansiysk I saw Gelfand's enormous strength and then I saw him in Kazan. I never felt like a favourite. I knew I had my chances but I never felt like a favourite. I know Boris way too long for that. I am just relieved and cannot think beyond that right now.
The video of the press conference is available at the official website of the 2012 World Chess Championship.
Posted in: 2012 world chess championship,anand comments on tiebreak,anand gelfand
