The Polar Ends of Chess Series: Tactical vs Positional Chess Part 1
I often get the question: how to I get myself to the next level? What is the secret?
Well, while there is no direct answer to these questions, the closest answer I can give to them is positional chess. The two sides of chess is tactical and positional chess. Often overshadowed by tactical chess, positional chess is equally important if not more.
First let us define these two:
Dynamic/tactical chess: An instant, exciting, attacking form of chess, which is more forcing in nature. Incorporates the chess tactics (pin, fork, discovered attack, skewer, etc) to create threats to the opponent.
Strategic/positional chess: Often confused with a passive type of play, positional chess is quite the opposite. In fact, positional chess is all about finding your worst piece/aspects of your position and improving that or degrade your opponent's position/limit your opponent's possibilities.
The following game played by Lasker and Capablanca is a prime example of creating weaknesses to slowly improve your own position, while degrading your opponent's.
The previous game was a masterpiece from start to finish, a great example of the power of positional chess. Unknowingly white created a small weakness in the opening, which black then exploited for the rest of the game.
Many players hate the slow maneuvering of positional chess, and prefer the instant, sharp threats of tactical chess. However, more advanced players won't fall so easily to tactics, and if you want to take your game to the next level, positional chess is the way to go.
Now I am not saying to get rid of tactical chess altogether. Players need not struggle to choose between these two opposite ends of chess. Rather, you should incorporate positional chess in your existing game.
Just like how tactical chess has the different chess tactics that makes it up. Positional chess also has its own individual elements like pawn structure, outposts, isolated pawns, etc. In this series, we will cover those intricacies in tactical and positional chess, and how to use both in your game.
