How do you improve your positional play?

Good Positional Chess, Planning & Strategy Books for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-positional-chess-planning-strategy

Or by doing your own research. Feed your own games or master games through an engine and make detailed explorations of how tactical and positional decisions affect the structure of games. You use the engine because that's the easiest way to check for tactical shots. It's a long, hard process which could turn you into a brilliant player.

Better to find the tactical shots without an engine, then use the engine to check your accuracy.

Yes, I'm a big believer in the idea that a player should first do as much work as possible and make as much progress as possible WITHOUT the engine, before turning it on.

The point is that it's basically WORTHLESS discovering what the best move is in some random position. Who cares? You'll probably never see that position again in your games. The important thing is to learn productive habits of thought... to learn how to approach a position , how to analyze it, how to FIND good moves.

Clicking buttons on your engine will not teach you that. Too many young players use engines... not as an aid to thinking, but TO REPLACE thinking.

Why think when you can have someone else do that for you?!?! Isn't that why CEOs have assistants ?!?!

Its those old angry birds that hate engines.

When they hear the call to 'start your engines' , they start up a 50 year old pinball game from the good ole days. "huh? This isnt the mall!"

Or Janet Guthrie.

It's not as if I'm computer-illiterate.

I worked as a Computer Systems Analyst for the Army, at the Combined Arms Tactics School.

I just feel that kids nowadays tend to click buttons and call it "thinking".

I would like to let you know it takes extreme skill and years of studying to properly operate a computer!! Hmph

I guess that up to a point you have to read books over positional play. Another way is to open a chessable account and do courses over that specific aspect of the game. I´ve also had your problems since I always was a good solucionist(even thought Im realizing recently I have ground for more improvement) but lacked the patience and good self-asking of a good positional player.

do chessable courses count as lessons?

Not for me then dear.

I guess... but I find more profitable the spaced repetition method... Watching videos and doing silly exercises one time isnt that good in my opinion.

"if you're in doubt, get those pieces out!" - a very good piece of advice from Coach Danny.

i mean do chessable courses increment the number of 'completed lessons' counter on your profile... does anybody know?

No,definitely.

k thx.

Indeed. For becoming a positional chessplayer one need's a vocabulary. All those visions need to be kept systematically in order. The lessons teach you to think like a chessplayer.

#43 is the best advice about learning positional play that you could possibly get.

Analyze games played by strong players, especially those known for their positional skills. Pay attention to how they handle pawn structures, piece placement and maneuvering.