I understand the context, but you made a broad statement about chess in general. It was that that I was disputing:
I can’t really follow glee’s point either, but if he’s saying psychology doesn’t play a significant role at say Kasparov’s level, that just means he (glee) hasn’t read Kasparov’s Great Predecessors books. Kasparov talks a lot about psychology at the highest levels of chess, and not just in his games…including altering choices of openings, or even selecting complicated but potentially unsound moves against certain opponents.
I saw one of his games vs. Deep Blue. He was feeling some time pressure, and offered a draw. Now, at the time, the computer wasn’t programmed to deal with such offers: The arrangement was that if a draw was offered, there was a human staff who would decide whether to accept it (the same team would decide when to concede). Well, Kasparov knew that they’d eventually decline the offer, but that it would take them a while to come to that decision-- Time that came off of Deep Blue’s clock, not his own. With the pressure taken off him, he eventually rallied and won.