After the end of the fourth rapid game both players came to the press conference.
About tie-break
Viswanathan Anand: “Yes, of course the tie-break was incredibly tense. When I woke up this morning I had this feeling that one way or the other the match would finish today. I simply didn’t know how it was going to be. The match was so even that I had no sense what shape the tie-break would take. I think right now I only feel that I’m relieved. I think I’m too tense to be happy.
The game one was an incredibly tense start and I have no idea we were playing correctly or not. When all those complications happened after 21…Bg3 and the forced line with 26.Bg7 I played 26…Kh7. To be honest I saw 27.Rb7 but I could not believe it. Had it happened, the game would have gone really nuts there.
In the second game I think I was better during the most of the game but, of course, Boris was defended extremely well and the result should be a draw. However he didn’t have much time and actually the position was unpleasant for Black when I had my pawn on b5. With my knight on c5 and rook on seventh rank anything can happen. Boris blundered and made me a gift.
I had a lost position during the third game but I was lucky to have some contra play at least. So I had this pawn mass in the center and g-file, even Rg7. But honestly speaking the score in the match could have been equalized right away.
In the fourth game it was enough to make draw and I know that I was not supposed to play too hard for a draw because it can be finished very badly but somehow at the board I just started to do it. Let’s say I was happy when my rooks were doubled and I’ve got this trick with Re6. Still I think my opponent had a lot of chances in the games 3 and 4.”
Boris Gelfand: “The fight was variable today and I believe I had an edge. In the second game I think I played well and had more than enough compensation for the pawn. Most likely the problem in the tie-break for me was lack of time. When you don’t have time it’s not easy to make all best moves and big mistakes in the second and third games were decisive for the fate of the match. I had also an advantage in the fourth game but again I needed more time to find the best way to develop my edge. In the fourth I game spent a lot of time after 5.e5 because I was trying to find the best variation for Black in order to get complicated position and have some chances to win.”
About the match
Viswanathan Anand: “I had an impression that it just would be a really tough match. At the beginning everyone could see that the preparation of both of us was more or less balanced. I was not getting anything special with White neither was Boris at least at the first half of the match. The problem of such tight matches is that every mistake has higher value. In the match with so few chances it was incredibly heavy blow to lose the 7th game. I would say it was the critical moment for me because I was not getting a lot of chances and it’s exactly the situation when you don’t want to be behind. I cannot remember such a black day like I had after that game. I could not sleep and that day I really thought I lost the match. So I won the next game and it was very important for my moral stability. We continued trying till the end. Some of you might think we were waiting for the tie-break but it was not like that. I was not just ready to do something insane in order to avoid tie-break. In the game twelfth we had some interesting ideas but Boris found the brilliant move c4 over the board I think. Deciding the fate of the match in tie-break is quite reasonable. Things went my way that’s all what I can say. It was mostly the battle of nerves. I just can say I won because I won and that’s it.
Personally I never felt like I was the favorite, well, I know Boris too long to think like that. I saw how Boris was playing during the World Cup in 2009 and Candidates matches in 2011. He showed his strength.”
Boris Gelfand: “My strategy has been quite simple – to play one game after another, try to put maximum problems to my opponent, make best moves. I think I showed many interesting ideas in the openings and found good solutions during the games. So I believe I played quite solid. After none of the game I was not thinking about my chances I was just very focused on the preparation for the next one.”
Both players refused to tell the names of other seconds who helped them during the match. “There were many people who wanted to assist me during the match. I accepted help of some of them but it’s too early to share those secrets,” – said Boris Gelfand.
When asked if he thinks it’s a proven fact that those skeptic people, who thought he would be not able to keep fighting against World Champion, were wrong, Boris Gelfand answered: “I’ve seen this movie before. For the last 15 years people has been trying to send me to the pension. I became second in the world championship and everyone said it was my ‘last song’, I won the World Cup and public was telling it was an accident, I won the candidate matches – the format was wrong or my opponents were not good enough. So I try not to listen what people say about me but just do what I used to do.”
Answering the question what he thinks about such great attention to the match in Israeli media Boris Gelfand said: “It’s always nice when people supporting you in your country and I heard it was really big support. It’s important that this moment will be kept and chess will get better position in society. Chess is on the very low stage today. We had many talented players but people were telling them ‘it is not a profession, it is just waste of time, you should get another job.’ As a result we lost few generations of players. We have a few professional chess players left in the country. I do hope hundreds of thousands children will learn how to play chess and we will see top tournaments in our country and such profession will be able to exist in Israel.”
worthy of Bharat Ratna
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