Determining one’s playstyle
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Does it benefit someone to identify their play style at a begging level or would it be pointless? If so how would they go about such and possibly act on it .
Jul 24, 2022
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#2
Style is only apparent when someone has a choice. When A and B are both good, if you consistently choose one of them then that's your style. This is true for chess and many other skills.
Beginners don't have a style, they have strengths and weaknesses. Beginners aren't good enough to know when A and B are equally good, and they're also not good enough to be as successful with either one.
In chess, for example, you may have a choice to continue an attack or trade into an endgame. To know which gives you more winning chances you have to understand both that specific attack and the specific endgame that will appear. When only the attack works then players like Petrosian would obliterate you with aggressive moves. When only the endgame works, players like Tal would grind you down in an endgame. These two players became known for the opposite because when there was a choice Petrosian chose solid play and Tal would chose flashy play.
Even though most players don't actually have a style, it is useful to understand your strengths and weaknesses. Improving your weak points unexpectedly helps the other areas of your game too. Typically a weakness is something you don't like to study and involves positions you don't like to play. If the 4 broad categories are openings, tactics, strategy, and endgames, then most players are weaker in strategy and endgames because most people don't find them as fun as openings or tactics.
"Style? I have no style" - Karpov