Positional Play

Hello Forum! I have a not-so-unique issue that is seriously holding me back from playing better. Now normally I would post a game and ask, "what did I do wrong?!" but that isn't necessary. You see, I can usually find strong tactical moves and variations but am unable to play strong positionally. To that end, and this goes out to you Premium Members as well, is there anything around the net that would help with this?

I could find most of it myself (Google: Duh, positional chess training/help) but am attempting to see if there has been anything that has helped out any of you. I am willing to purchase a book or two, but my funds are somewhat limited at this point so that may or may not be a viable option. Any help on this would be appreciated.

Thank you for calling technical support. I understand you are having a problem with positional chess. Is that right?

This is correct. I am not sure I have it plugged in. It shows power...does that mean it is plugged in?! It doesn't start up or stay on when it does...

You can look for information about middlegame planning, which goes along with positional analysis and evaluation. It's also good to learn some more endgame theory because in most positions where there isn't an attack available (which should be easy for you to handle if you have good tactical vision)  it's up to evaluating your chances in the endgame after simplification - whether you should allow (or even force) that or avoid it.

About specific materials, I would recommend you the book "Pawn Structure Chess" by Andrew Soltis, which is about middlegame planning and subsequent play.

Tactics is microcosmic (a limted subset of information). Positional play is more like macrocosmic (all the pieces, all the squares, all the vectors, all the intersections, all the developing and unfolding dramas). It sounds like your device is turned on, but you need to make sure the oscillator is set to periodic micro-macro reconciliation comprehension. Oh, and the flux capacitor. Make sure that is functioning properly.

I would advise to stop trying to divide the game into positional or tactical.  Every move leads to a position.  Every move YOU make should be made to improve your position.   Sometimes this is done by a combination that wins a piece or a pawn or a better position (this is called tactics) but the goal is always the same: to improve your own position until you have a win.   Trying to categorize the board into open/closed/positional/tactical/opening/midgame/endgame/etc can be helpful but it can also be confusing as there are no distinct lines between most of those.  A closed, positional game can still produce a winning combo in the form of tactics.   A "computer move" (odd piece to odd location) in a "tactical game" can still greatly improve your position either immediately or as a long term effect.  

Now that your mind is free, I would advise study of annotated games of closed positions.  Perhaps start here: http://www.chess.com/computer-workout/server/extra-bishop-kings-indian   for a great exercise in "positional" play (whatever that even means...).

Please first check

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/positional-play
up to
http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/positional-play7

If that does not solve your issue don't hesitate to come back and ask for more information  

No! I post forum topic! >:O *runs off*

Anyway, I was looking for ideas from fellow community members who may have been in the same situation recently. 5-years makes for a lot of changes or improvements.

you can learn a ton by watching the videos here on chess.com. You're a premium member and you should make the most out of your investment.

There's also courses in the chess mentor. "roots of positional understanding" is good and helpful up to expert level.

Hey Phylar, if your looking for a very cheap, largely positional-chess based coach, check out what my current student had to say about my positional training.

http://www.chess.com/coach/stephen-rush

Positional chess is easy.

Try to double your opponent's pawns. Try not to doulbe your.

If your opponents bishop is locked behind his own pawns, try not to unleash it.

Try to sink your knight into your opponent's camp. Try not to let your opponent do the same to you. Watch your pawn holes.

Nothing much to it, really. Do that much, the tactics should follow.

Resolute, while I appreciate that, I can also say that during my High School years I went from barely being able to play to #1 on my Varsity team through books, Chessmaster's Waitzkin videos, and sheer determination. I got there through heavy use and study of tactics but neglected studying positional play assuming that would come as I became more experienced. No person on this site needs a coach, only the determination to improve and the willingness to open their minds to all the ideas chess has to offer. Anyways, I am unwilling to pay to learn something I love. Half of the fun of chess is watching oneself grow.

@Plutonia, I certainly plan on doing just that. First however, I am going through the old Chessmaster Waitzkin lessons to brush up on the fundamental ideas that he attempts to bring to the table. I am also rated just under 2000 on Chess Mentor though I suspect I have barely scratched the surface. We'll see just how far down the hill I will fall before catching myself.

To everyone who has given me insight and advice thus far, I thank you. To Math0t, I am looking for high level, deep positional play that will force me to stretch myself to understand. While I am certain there are some in those 1-7, I do not much feel the need to slog through what is likely pages of material to find one that works. But perhaps I am being pessimistic regarding that.

JONNIN! I understand your concern, this one time it is unwarranted. I am not attempting to divide and conquer here, but rather to gain a further understanding of why some of my tactical ideas may or may not be weak or strong. Improving my positional acuity will help to improve my over all game, especially if put into practice. Clever ideas can get one only so far!

Simple, I love it. But perhaps a bit oversimplified. I tend to outsmart myself on the board and cause losing games where I had a huge attack but simply could not see it (until I look at the board after the game). I will, however, keep what you said in mind. A bit simple, but it gets the point across nicely.

www.chessvideos.tv

I discovered it yesterday, there isn't a huge amount of training video material, but it's a pretty good start. One of the things I learned from going there was the "Christmas" principle:

"If you can't think of a plan, ask your pieces what they'd like for christmas"

i.e. Which square do they really, really want to be on?

Because I am a tactical player I tend towards that anyway. But instead I ask, "Now what square will cause my opponent the most pain?"

Recently I've started looking for the "Square Left Behind" principle which I know will help long-term.

Not that much, from my (limited) experience.

What I would call "positional chess" in my thinking process is everything that does not involve brutal calculation (but the evaluation of the position at the end of those lines). 90% of that is counting material correctly, 9% is educated guesses about whether such or such endgame is winning/drawn/lost, and this does not go much further than "bad bishop = bad, activity = good", and the remaining 1% is "divine inspiration" (ie irrational things depending on my mood).

So, the best you can do is to keep playing, and you will learn the inspiration part after painful defeats. Unlike tactics where losing to a fork just tells you you should pay attention to forks, and you still run into them two games afterwards, losing to some clever plan gives you a good taste of what the preconditions for such a plan are.

If you can't find any attack on the king or other pieces, attack the squares! Control files, ranks and diagonals. If there is a hole (usually d5, d6) in the opponent's area, maneuver your knight and occupy it. And don't allow the opponent to do the above to you.

Hmm, perhaps it isn't so much my positional play but rather my over all knowledge of chess theory. Very difficult to say as I may be misinterpreting issues.

Here are my suggestions.  Trying to improve in that area too:

I second Plutonia's "roots of positional understanding" in the chess mentor course.  300 very challenging positions taught by Jeremy Silman. 

Two books by Jeremy Silman - the Amature Mind and How to Reassess Your Chess volume 4. 

Strong positional play requires strong calculation skills. 

If you have the money then Smirnov's Positional Chess Understanding course is great and his planning course is good after that.  However, less expensive options are Jacob Aagard's basic positional ideas Chessbase CD and Hansen's Improve Your Positional Chess books, especially supplemented with a database so you can learn to recognize these themes in actual games.