World champion Viswanathan Anand at a news conference in New Delhi on Friday. (PTI)

New Delhi: The tension, the rush of emotions and the uncertainty of results in the World Championship makes it feel a bit like stock market, says Indian chess icon Viswanathan Anand, who will defend his crown in October.

The world No.1 said although he is not feeling the pressure of the competition to be held in Bonn (in matchplay format), he was “working harder” to defend his title against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia.

“There was a cold shower when I lost my first game in the Wijk Aan Zee and then I drew some 5-6 games after a gap of couple of months. So it is very important to have memories and experience and the feel of the tension of the big chess events.

“You remember big match tensions… Experience becomes important. It’s a bit like stock market as matches can turn either way, so the emotions, anxiety, experience and all these things become important,” he said on Friday.

The Chennai-born and Madrid-based Indian, who would be playing in a matchplay tournament after a long gap, said he had no preferences about what format a tournament is played in.

“It is hardly a matter. You should be able to prove yourself in the given conditions. If you have such preferences you can lose focus,” he said.

“I might be playing it after a long gap but I have enough experience of the format,” he asserted.

But he said the number of variations do make the matchplay format a tough one.

“You need to play deeper than broader. You may not know many variations but you have to be thorough to be able to squeeze your opponent. Plus you are also being watched there,” he said.

Anand, who has been awarded the Chess Oscar for the fifth time, said the honour is a nice reminder of the year (2007) which was spent “beautifully”.

“It’s a bit of a delayed feeling because you get it a bit later than other recognitions. I didn’t dwell much on it but it is a good feeling to remember the beautiful year which is already over six months ago,” Anand said.

“It is actually an icing on the cake,” said Anand, who had a spectacular 2007 after becoming the undisputed world champion, the world No.1 besides reclaiming the Elo 2800 mark.

Anand had also received the Chess Oscar award in 1997, 1998, 2003 and 2004.

Anand said despite being top-placed, he does not have any advantage against the second-ranked Kramnik in the world championships.

“So far it is only Anand versus Kramnik. You have to forget that you are a world champion and it’s (the match) not between the world champions versus a challenger,” he said.

The 38-year-old said he has already started his preparations for the World Championship and has planned a light schedule till October.

“There is no point keeping up the intensity for four months. Although I’ve already started preparing hard for Bonn, I have also kept some breaks in my schedule. I will play Leon in June, Mainz in August, Bilbao in September and then Bonn in October,” he said.