rdynabll wrote:
If your Queen Sacrifice doesn't produce a checkmate, then its not tactical :)
It is... for positional fanboys.
How do you train yourself in tactics?
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I don't spend enough time at all learning or practicing tactics, its probably why I am not such a good chess player, I've never been able to bring myself around to undertaking to what I perceive a tedious task, I'd rather just play a game and quickly review one of my own games every now and then if I have spare time.
Though, I do wonder, what are the general basic guidelines to approaching tactics trainer... usually someone refers a book, something I don't wish to do, I have piles of academic books 
+1
Karpov is a chess player of a great number of short, two to three move combinations: he transferred his knight, seized the space, weakened a pawn.
--From Steinitz to Kasparov , Vladimir Kramnik, 2005
A tiny flash of understanding I had recently was that grandmasters are using tactics all the time too, but in addition to seeing the king at risk of being smothered on the back rank and coming up with a combination to exploit that weakness, grandmasters see a world of subtle positional gains they can make with this combination or that, but those opportunities are largely invisible to me at my level of play.
BTW, the Kramnik interview is wonderful. Read the whole thing, if you haven't.
Very well stated idosdos. I also have that video with Henley, and Karpov. Actually what you stated is exactly why I like tactics, and positional play lol.
I actually like the calculation part, I can't stand speed chess because of this. If I don't have enough time to fully study a position I really stink. Yeah I might see a quick double attack, but will sometimes miss that its losing. Chess is beautiful. Lol
Going to have to check out the video it is getting great reviews.
ipcress12 wrote:
I like this quote from Dan Heisman:
The most important goal of studying tactics is to be able to spot the elementary motifs VERY quickly, so studying the most basic tactics over and over until you can recognize them almost instantly is likely the single best thing you can do when you begin studying chess.
This is the approach I'm taking with tactics for now. I stopped doing ChessTempo and GameKnot tactical problems because most of the problems quickly went beyond the basic motifs I want to absorb.
Perhaps I'll return later when I feel I've mastered the basics at a blitz response level.
QFT
I’ve taken the same approach. I have 3 sets of 350 tactics, with the sets being easy, medium, and hard. I went through the easy set a few times until I could solve them all almost instantly. Now I’m going through the medium set and will go through it until I’m able to solve them all almost instantly.
qrayons: Sounds great!
Where did you get your tactics sets? The closest thing I've found is S. Polgar's Chess Tactics for Champions.
Sorry for such a late response, but I only just saw your comment. I downloaded iChess Free from the google play store. The 3 sets of 350 tactics are free and there are other tactical sets that you can purchase.
Jan 28, 2014
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#31
I recently upgraded my chess.com membership primarily to have access to unlimited tactics puzzles. I find it helpful to repeatedly do the puzzles for pattern recognition. Like Dan Heisman says, you can calculate 8 x 7 = 56 by adding 8 seven times, or by instantly recognizing it. I'm finding my pattern recognition is improving through repetition.
Apr 28, 2018
0
#32
I have an app that I made that I want to recommend for you guys. It is designed for increasing chess skill and IQ. It is called: Brain Training Chess. It costs only 2,99 dollars. I have many years of experience in brain training and I really do think this is one of the best brain training applications out there. If you have any feedback or questions just ask away.
Best regards,
Paul Jacobson
Ziryab: Impressive! I've vistited your blog a few times. You're my new role model.