Positional vs. Tactical Play

In today's blog post, I would like to share with you my views on a very commonly discussed topic: Positional versus Tactical Play - which one is better? The truth is that there is never an absolute answer to this question, as the positional play provides the important support and preparation for tactics. On the other hand, tactical play is necesarry when the position gets more opened and we can't rely on gradual improvements anymore. The difficult part for many chess players is how to balance these two and essentially, how to recognize the important patterns that require us to play slower (more positionally) or fast (tactically). In attempt to answer these and other questions, some time ago I prepared a very interesting video on that topic for the excellent chess website ChessLecture.com. I hope you will find my suggestions useful to better understand how positional and tactical play work during a practical game.
 

In the end, I have to conclude that mastering the positional and tactical play is a long journey, one that begins with small steps towards understanding chess strategy in a better way.