Don't Give Up on Your Ideas Without a Fight!

Hey Impressive Chessers!

As a chess coach I get asked lots of questions and get to hear my student comment about chess improvement. Some memorable ones that apply to this blog are:

• "I heard chess is 99% tactics, should I just do tactic puzzles all the time to get better?"
• "Luckily, I don't need to study tactics, I'm a positional player."

We always hear how we should stop focusing so much on the opening part of the game and instead focus more on tactic puzzles. And the thing is, that's actually not terrible advice. But you need to know the reason why; and also why positional players need to be adept at tactics as well.

"Luckily, I don't need to study tactics, I'm a positional player."

To debunk silly comment first we are going to go a few moves back from the thumbnail diagrammed position. 

Puzzle #1: *Hint* Remember the title of the blog

Next lets take a look at, in my opinion, one of the greatest games of all time. I came across this game early in chess tournament playing career. I already was doing well with the French Defense, but this game really made me a lifelong French Defense advocate. 

Puzzle #2: Think of what Black wants to play. It probably looks like it won't work, but use your tactical resourcefulness to find a way to make your move work.

Full Game with Analysis

"I heard chess is 99% tactics, should I just do tactic puzzles all the time to get better?"

This one is harder to debunk, and it might not be fully "debunkable". Because solving tactic puzzles does so many good things for our chess improvement. Solving tactic puzzles is a lot like this famous scene from the original "The Karate Kid"*:

*Before you ask, I was not alive when this movie came out, thank you very much😜

Daniel, the "Karate Kid", does not understand why Mr. Miyagi is making him do simple chores such as waxing cars, painting fences, sanding floors, etc. But what Daniel doesn't know, is that he's learning critical karate skills by practicing these simple chores. See the next video for how Mr. Miyagi reveals that he's actually been teaching Daniel critical skills to excel at karate:

This is analogous to solving tactic puzzles in chess. If you get really good at solving tactic puzzles, that's great! But your chess won't improve too much, if you don't know how to utilize your new found tactical skills. Your tactical skills should be letting play moves that look otherwise impossible or bad. Let's look at example to make this point more clear:

Full Game with Analysis

When Your Move Doesn't Work, Don't be so Quick to Give up on it

I see many players struggle with this one. They are so close to finding the best move, but then they notice a flaw with their move. So they throw it away, to try forget about the losing but tempting move. I think this is a defense mechanism so that they don't blunder away the game, but it's not a prudent thing to do. The best thing to do, is reverse the move order in your head, try out an in-between move, etc. Your intuition is telling you that you have a killer move, it would behoove you to listen and try to honor it before you give up on it. 

A simple example comes from one of my earlier tournament games. I was 3 years into tournament play and not yet 2000, I saw that I was paired up with a nearly 2400 FM. My only "rule" I gave myself for this game was to play "my game". I might lose but it won't be because I played too timidly. With the stage set, let's see the moves.

Of course I missed something huge, that you probably are screaming at your phone or computer screen right now:

Puzzle #4

Puzzle #5: Don't give up on Ne5, let's make it work with some tactics

Luckily I was able to keep my composure and make Ne5 work, I just needed to not give up on my ideas without a fight!

Conclusion 

Whether you’re a “positional player” or a “tactical player,” the truth is this: you can’t separate the two. Sometimes you will not be able to play the best "positional move" without the justifications of tactics. But, raw tactical skill won’t win you games if you don’t understand the positional framework that makes those tactics pertinent. 

Tactics are the bridge between your ideas and the board. So keep solving puzzles, but more importantly, practice using those skills in real games. Don’t dismiss your intuition too quickly. When a move feels right, explore it. Refine it. Fight for it.

That’s how you grow, not just as a tactician or a positional player, but as a complete chess player. Do this and you will surely...

…Stay Impressive!
OLM/NM Craig C.
linktr.ee/ChessToImpress

What about you? Do you think of yourself more as a tactical or a positional player and how have tactics shaped your most memorable games? Share in the comments!