I simply hung on for dear life: Viswanathan Anand

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Winning the World Championship for the fifth time after a nerve-wracking tie-breaker, Viswanathan Anand said he was too tense to be happy and was relieved that the result went in his favour.

"The match was so even that I had no sense of what shape tiebreak would take. Right now the only feeling to have is relief. I am too tense to be happy, I am relieved", Anand said in the post match conference after winning the title in rapid tiebreak games against Boris Gelfand of Israel.

Speaking about the tiebreak, the champion said, "I wouldn’t say there is some kind of justice in it. After we played 12-games, I think the tiebreak is a reasonable situation that would separate us after a very tough match. Things really went my way in the tiebreaker, I can say I won because I won", Anand said matter-of-factly.

Anand, who has given a fillip to the game in India, said that it was a very tough contest for him.

"The problem in such a tight match is that every mistake has a much higher value then in a situation where mistakes are flowing back and forth. The seventh game (that he lost) was a big blow for me luckily I was able to come back in the next game".

"For me it was the critical moment in the match from my perspective. I was not getting many chances, a situation when you don’t want to be behind", he said.

Anand was candid to agree that nerves played an important part. "Today it’s difficult to claim anything, I think my nerves held out better, these four game had so much back and forth going on, I simply hung on for dear life, I won’t claim more than that," he said.