Tactics is a short term exploitation of advantage, strategy is a long-term exploitation of advantage.
Capturing a knight to create double pawns might be a tactic, the idea of using the doubled pawns to your advantage in the future might be strategy. Helpful?
Good answers, I'll add another aspect
The moves that carry out tactics involve forcing moves (when you capture a piece, they usually have to re-capture, or when you give check they have to remove it). Because the moves are forced the goal you accomplish is usually short term. It's usually winning material (or mate) but it doesn't have to be. You can also use tactics to get a superior position like force a passed pawn or force them to trade away a good piece. But it's almost always accomplished within a few moves.
The moves that carry out strategies don't strictly limit your opponent's move options. These moves accomplish abstract ideas in chess like fixing weaknesses, gaining space, or setting up a blockade. They can constantly change throughout a game, and although they may last for dozens of moves, may never be accomplished.
Another way to say it, strategies set your pieces up to take advantage of tactics.
It's funny because Becky said (and correctly) you use tactics to carry out strategy... but I just said good strategic moves are what allow tactics to be available to your pieces.
This is because the two aspects in chess are intimately intertwined. There's no such thing as a purely tactical or strategic player. Moves can be (and the good ones very often are) both strategic and tactical in nature.
I agree with wafflemaster. It is not so much the moves themselves, rather than the reasoning BEHIND them (abstract, inductive vs. concrete, deductive).
ah this topic is back again!
i'd like to know if these are mutually exclusive
You can't even be a good player without knowing all the tactics. Yet you can be a great player just knowing one strategy.
crikey! then let's get the Strategy Trainer up and running! c'mon staff! what are we waitin' for ?
Tactics lol
For real its actually both
crikey! then let's get the Strategy Trainer up and running! c'mon staff! what are we waitin' for ?
Yeah, strategy seems to be OP, I think that guy has solved chess.
Strategy is your game plan for the position, tactics are combinations that directly help achieve your strategy.
Couldn't of said it better myself.
very true.
Tactics is what the computer programmes have; strategy is what they don't have.
true.computers only assume players will make the best move.they never consider.
true.computers only assume players will make the best move.they never consider.
Sounds like a good strategy ... :-D
indeed.which is why you can win a computer.i did.
Way to miss the point. I did not say that knowing one strategy automatically makes you a great player. Just that a great player might go their whole career only ever needing one.
Tigran Petrosian springs to mind, as a great chess player, who played a consistant defensive strategy throughout his career.
Though I'm taking about strategy in the broader sense here.
I suspect you are talking about is style.
If you want to get into semantics then yes I'm talking about style. Funny how some styles win and some don't.
What is your version of distinction between tactics and strategy? What's the difference?