It sounds, like the rest of us beginners (definitely myself included), that you need to put more emphasis on tactics at this level, and less on on position or strategy... I think beginning players (myself included again) like to focus on strategy because in theory at least, the ideas are simpler to understand and it requires less mental effort. You can see immediately if your bishop is good or bad, but trying to calculate and viualise the board in 3 moves' time is not easy. But, like the rest of us (me included) we beginners need to understand those fundamentals first. Strategy only works because they allow for tactics: its the framework from which tactics flow. Without tactics, our strategy is just an empty shell, and will give us nothing but a pretty looking board (which is usually quickly demolished).
Theory and practice in chess
It sounds, like the rest of us beginners (definitely myself included), that you need to put more emphasis on tactics at this level, and less on on position or strategy... I think beginning players (myself included again) like to focus on strategy because in theory at least, the ideas are simpler to understand and it requires less mental effort. You can see immediately if your bishop is good or bad, but trying to calculate and viualise the board in 3 moves' time is not easy. But, like the rest of us (me included) we beginners need to understand those fundamentals first. Strategy only works because they allow for tactics: its the framework from which tactics flow. Without tactics, our strategy is just an empty shell, and will give us nothing but a pretty looking board (which is usually quickly demolished).
So I think i am going to sharpen my tactical abilities first. Thank you 
Hi everybody, happy new year 2012 for all
So, I will try to be concise: I love chess and I often play games against different opponents. I am a beginner but I know many things about openings/ Development/ End game/ Controlling the center/ Outposts/Weak pawns/ open files/ closed positions etc...
The problem is that when I play a "real" game I find it difficult to put what I know (or what I think I know) in practice. When I don't make terrible blunders, I spend a lot of time trying to find the best move. I try to anticipate my opponent's moves, to take a good and a wise look at the chess board, but I still think my positional skills aren't so good. How can I really UNDERSTAND positional play? I really feel frustrated when I watch a game opposing grandmasters without understanding the aims of many moves... Have you got some advice for me guys? Thank you