Things are different now. See how the name Tal comes up, the most creative player ever.
The feeling was chess had come to an end. It became all about having the closest position, get the most draws, win one or two games, and be the champion.
All of a sudden, chess is about attacking again. What was dismissively called decimononical chess, comes back to life, with all its grace.
I do not have a clue about a game between Karpov and Kasparov. But I get AlphaZero perfectly! Amazing.
The new chess is superhuman, no doubt. But it is also much more human, if you will.
What we had come to believe chess was, was just what chess had become. The dominant theories had become truth. AlphaZero brings that freshness back, and in that it is more human than humans.