Keano wrote on 12/01/16 at 12:31:29:
Karjakin very unlucky not to win this match IMO.
I don't think that luck has much to do with it. And frankly, I think that Karjakin was a bit "lucky" not to lose at least one of games 3 or 4, in which case the match would probably have been the comfortable win for Carlsen that many thought it would be at the start.
I'm not disparaging Karjakin's incredible defensive performance, but thinking that it was mere luck that kept Karjakin from winning is odd. It seems more "luck" that he was able to hold those two games than that he was eventually outplayed later; Carlsen was pressing and better in almost every game of this match.
Frankly as I've said before, much of this talk about Karjakin's "psychological strategy" is nonsense in my opinion, and a direct result of him being able to hold games 3 and 4 in the heat of battle. There was no psychological strategy involved, but Magnus's failure to convert those games caused him to doubt himself, or think overly negatively about himself, or caused him to overpress later, or whatever else. We won't know the true story until someone in his camp reveals it to us, but the psychological pressure on Carlsen came from Karjakin defending well on the board, not some imagined psychological strategy.*
It may have been "luck" that Karjakin didn't find a forced drawing line in game 10, but he was entirely, convincingly, beautifully outplayed in that game; I don't know where all this luck stuff is coming from.
*I'm aware that psychological conditioning and preparation is a part of all sports, but that has more to do with learning to deal with pressure, success, failure, how to avoid distractions, etc. It's not "Hey, let's defend lifeless positions all match long and make Carlsen get annoyed!"