What does it take to become a Tactical master ?

Hello, i am just another student on the chess planet and i am very concerned about building a map my tactical study and improvement. In other words, i need to identify the full package of a grandmaster's knowledge about tactics.

So here we go. Let's start with tactical theory :

- TOPIC 1 "Tactical motifs" : seem to be rather well identified (my best list was found on chesstempo actually : http://chesstempo.com/tactical-motifs.html) but there seems to have gaps (as a personal interpretation : i would add for example "discovered defense" when moving
I found this interesting post from chess skills : http://chessskill.blogspot.fr/2012/04/tactical-motifs-list.html
So my simple question is : does chess tempo mention all existing tactical motifs ?

- TOPIC 2 "Mating motifs" : seem to be rather well identified on chesstempo too (see aforementioned page).

- TOPIC 3 "Board vision" : this topic is currently unclear to me. Are there reference works about visualization skills in chess ? Is there a reference book (or any source) about visualization theory / workout ? List of exercises "every chess player should know" ?

- TOPIC 4 "Combinational skills" : i tend to believe that this is the "Level 2" after mastering all tactical motifs. But are there some kind of lists of "typical combinations" ? who are the authors supposed to be masters on this topic ?

- TOPIC 5 "Calculation skills" : this topic should be focused on pure calculation force, let's say "how to find the best move when there IS tactics in the given position". Is Kotov's book "Think like a grandmaster" the only/best source of method ? Is "grandmaster preparation - calculation" from Agaard a better or complementary description ? Is this possible to assess the calculation complexity of a position ? how to mark/eliminate variations etc ... ?

- TOPIC 6 "Tactical alarms" : this is not a much discussed subject but in the same way, should an advanced palyer build his own list of tactical alarms such as "exposed king" or "In-line king and queen" or "rooks on same diagonal" etc ...
I suppose this topic might be a little confusing as we also ear about "pattern recognition" or "tactical intuition" but alarms might help to "build a map of patterns" too.

- TOPIC 7 "Attacking the king wherever it sits" : is this part of a pure tactical training ? if yes, what is the best material to work on that ?

I could go way further with "piece move mastery", "opening traps" like poisoned pawn/piece, "endgame tactics" that might be specific too. If you feel that i am on the right track, please mention it.

I did not start with best training methods about tactics but there are already many things to discuss before...

IF YOU THINK THAT MY VIEW IS INCOMPLETE, PLEASE ADD NUMBERED TOPICS IN YOUR ANSWER(S).

Thank you chess.com and active users

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And a bonus question : is there a known/written full list of tactical/combinational/calculation skills ?

Your "Tactical motifs" category should not simply equal "Tactical Motifs (from Chesstempo)" minus "Mating Motifs".  Unless you can come up with a better description, I would think that it is more logical to start with "Mating Motifs" as category 1 and then you would have "All other motifs" for category 2.

Number 3, 4 and 5 seem like variations on the same theme. Improving ability to see tactics in categories 1 and 2.

Number 6 "Tactical Alarms" seems like it is venturing into the strategy side of identifying long term weaknesses.

Number 7. Attack the king where it is-- I don't know what the use of that is.

Regarding tactical alarms, this blog might help: http://www.chess.com/blog/KingsEnemy/the-three-parts-of-tactical-vision Be sure to follow the link to Dan Heisman's full article on "the seeds of tactical destruction"

@notmtwain : thanks for your remarks. I will take them into account.

@JuglinDan : i just feel like your avatar's robot at tactics.

OK, i will quote Dan Heisman "seeds" as part of tactical alarms topic :

1. Loose (unguarded) Pieces – “Loose Pieces Drop Off”
2. Pieces that can easily be attacked by enemy pieces of less value
3. One or More Pieces than Can be Attacked via a "Discovered" Attack"
4. Weak Back Rank
5. Pinned or “skewerable” Pieces along the same rank, file, or diagonal
6. Overworked Pieces (Pieces guarding more than one piece or square)
7. Inadequately Guarded Pieces
8. Falling Way Behind in Development (overwhelming opponent forces)
9. Opponent’s pawns nearing promotion
10. King uncastled or lost pawn protection with Queens on the board
11. Open enemy lines for Rooks, Queens, and Bishops to your King
12. Pieces that have little mobility and might easily be trapped if attacked

If you have any thoughts about any other topic, please shout !

I think it mostly comes down to practice. Practicing tactics without a time limit you can initially apply a checklist like Heisman's seeds, apply counting, and do some calculations. But over time you start to learn the patterns, and they start to pop out at you. You can also practice solving simple tactical problems quickly as a way to learn to see the common patterns. I am no tactical master, but I try to use both slow and fast practice methods, and it is slowly helping.

No, you don't. At least not yet and most likely never in your lifetime.

What is it with fairly weak players posting the most elaborate plans with the most lofty goals ? Is there a secret competition for that somewhere ?

Can I win that secret competition by being even lower rated and making a post on the forums which is twice as long and elaborate asking to identify the full knowledge of all world champions in both strategy and tactics ?

Try setting some realistic goals.

Oh, and tactics are based more on calculation and pattern recognition than knowledge, although SOME knowledge about them does not hurt. But at your playing strength you certainly don't need to look at "the full package of a grandmaster's knowledge about tactics" yet, and most likely never will.

I recommend tactics trainers and playing, playing, playing.

@Steve11537 :

1. A forum aims to contain questions and contructive answers

2. Strategy is voluntarily off this topic (isn't it complex enought yet ?)

3. You did not mention any idea helping to identify Tactics coverage, nor any method in order to assess one's tactical knowledge.

Practice only evaluates Tactical ability but the student has to make a critical analysis of failures in his practice of problem solving AND OTB games. A serious player must achieve circles in workout, but also in learning approach.

As an example : Visualization -> Patterns -> Calculation -> Training Cycles -> Visualization -> etc...

i would like to say search ur feel....on the board........and apply lesson that we had practice.....maybe it because its force......