Is there a method to tell if there is a tactic?

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JSB53

Some tactics take a while to spot and in every game I believe most players only spend a certian amount of time before deciding there is no tactic in the position and move on so is there some indicators to tell if there is something in the position?

Sqod

Ditto to Lasker1900's advice. One more important thing: tactics usually arise from *imbalances*, so if you can detect a major imbalance then you should spend a lot more time looking for a winning tactic. Imbalances come in various forms, such as one side having more material, much more space, more advanced pawns, or one side having lost too many tempi (1-3 lost tempi generally lose the game), having uncoordinated pieces, hanging units, poor pawn structure, exposed king, fewer defenders than attackers, having played a non-book opening move, etc.