Positional vs Tactical Player

   Hello All,

         So I have a question for the club. How does one tell whether they are a positional or tactical player? I was listening to a Perpetual Chess podcast yesterday and they were talking about it. And it got me thinking about it. Is one's mindset different from one to the other? Are the openings they use as well? Just wondering, hope this isn't too many questions in one post.

Interesting

I think tactical players use tactics (like ones you see in puzzles) in their games a lot. While positional players are...hard to describe, they're probably pretty high rated and they get a positional advantage in the game instead of just martial advantage 

I have no idea if you can tell if you're one without playing a game. 

Tactics are much more forcing and you see immediate benefits while positional play is simply like gaining small advantages that don’t immediately benefit you except to make your game easier to play. Positional play relies on “logic of the position” while tactical play relies on “logic of the moves”. 

I am lazy, so I am a positional player:

As far as I'm aware, tactical chess relies on taking advantage of your opponent's mistakes and forcing your opponent into positions where a combination of moves in a tactical sequence will net you an advantage (Like puzzles). Positional play is focused around creating long term plans based on pawn structure, piece placement etc etc that give you a small but permanent advantage

I think

if i like to be passive and wait for my opponent to give me free stuff would that make me positional or tactical?

postainal, I think

is there was a "blunder player" section, then I'd be #1 on there 

I really don’t get that. If there’s a winning tactic in the position, why wouldn’t you play it? And if there’s no winning tactic, play a positional move. Can someone explain a “tactical” player to me?

someone who grinds puzzles 

Tactical players (like me-) seek complications and fun positions where you can't calculate everything. However, it may not be THAT sound...

Positional players are more likely to be control freaks in real life. Hehehe

Why is the last part something you decided to disagree on

it was a sentence specific to me

”I am a boy”

”I disagree”

wouldn't be surprised if you actually found such a conversation on the internet

Bruh honestly

when COVID came around and I was like “time to get on discord cuz boredom” I learned too many things too fast

Both "positional" and "tactical" chess players strive to find the best moves and play according to the needs of the chess position. No decent player ONLY uses one without the other. Positional and tactical chess work together. As GM Bobby Fischer said, "tactics flow from a superior position." 

Take one of the most "tactical" players ever (like Tal or Alekhine) and you'll realize they had a profound understanding of positional chess. Similarly, take one of the most "positional" players ever (like Karpov or Petrosian) and you'll realize they had a strong element of tactical chess too.

If playing the best moves and the needs of each chess position is the goal, then what is "style?" I see the player style of positional versus tactical become apparent in positions with equally good moves/plans. The player choosing the direct route of tactics is tactical and the player choosing the slower route to the endgame is positional. 

To find which your style leans towards more often, you have to learn chess well enough to where you understand the best moves and why one is favored over others. When this happens, the player can realize if they take the tactical or positional route more often. I estimate a rating of chess.com 1600 rapid to better determine that style, but some others claim a styy won't be more accurately defined until 1800+ or 2000+.

@kesetokaiba yes, people use both, but everyone prefers one over the other. 

The me from when I was 1800 would lament the kind of person I am now, never decisive enough to take any sort of action.

The current me would retort with “Who has the higher rating, though?”