Inspiration as preparation
Most players prepare for games by memorizing variations. I prefer to go over games in my selected opening, and try to observe tactical patterns and strategy. In this article I give an example of how such study can pay off.
For my game against GM Schwartzman, I knew a Classical French could be the battleground if I chose 1.e4 (I'm mostly a 1.d4 player). I happened to have recently seen a stunning Kasparov win in a line I don't usually play. It made such an impression that I decided to try to emulate it. Here is the inspiration game.
Now let's see how this inspiration paid off.
So, you can prepare for games by studying strategy as well as memorizing moves!
