Can't help you much since I'm about where you are (I got anywhere from high 1500's to high 1600's). From what I understand, not only do you want to move a piece out in the open to where it can become powerful, but also to where it can stay without moving again for the opening. You generally don't want to move a piece twice in the opening (except pawns) and don't bring out your queen early either. Also, know some good traps, like lasker's trap.
Positional Play
Sort:
I think learning positional aspects of the game is important at all stages of a player's progress. I still think the most energy should be spent on tactics. You will be sure to pick up positional knowledge from other sources on your way. Then, if at some point you think your tactics have advanced past your positional knowledge, you can study more master games and books on positional play.
So, my advice is to be looking to pick this stuff up, but to keep the focus on tactics.
Thanks, both answers make sense.
That given, where's a good place to learn positional play?
jr571 wrote:
Thanks, both answers make sense. That given, where's a good place to learn positional play?
That is a much more difficult question than 'where to learn tactics.' The best way by far would be to get a chess coach. If that is not an option, or you are just not that interested yet, the answer is 'everywhere.' Like I said, you will pick up positional knowledge from every opening you study, every endgame you study, and every game you watch, study, or play. Speaking from personal experience, the best way to pick up on positional motifs is to study master games, looking for positional ideas the whole time. Try to really understand the moves, and what he was probably thinking when he played them. If you cannot see any immediate tactics following a move, there is probably a number of different positional ideas behind the move. There are countless books with annotations that will help, also. I am sure it will help to study positional players like Karpov, Petrosian, or Botvinnik, or positional openings like the QGD family or Caro-Kann.
jr571> After all, "most games between class players are decided by tactical shots or blunders", as I've heard often.
Agreed. Of course, you can always study tactics and strategy! And better strategic positions tend to give you more tactical opportunities.
jr571> That given, where's a good place to learn positional play?
Check out my weekly series, The Strategy of 'My System'. mauerblume is also writing a nice series on strategy, and of course there's chess.com's Chess Mentor. And practice! I learn alot from my attempts to apply strategy to the games I'm playing or analyzing. :)
I'm new to chess in general, and I've always wondered how useful studying positional principles is at my level.
Under master strength, the consensus seems to be that you should primarily work on tactics. After all, "most games between class players are decided by tactical shots or blunders", as I've heard often. So, given all of this, at my level (around 1600 here), how important is positional play, if the small advantages yielded from the position are eventually not going to matter when someone drops a knight? I've found that you can survive with a bad plan, but with bad tactics you're sunk.
Currently, my positional grasp of chess revolves around moving pieces to where they're most effective.