Game of the week: Tactics!
GAME OF THE WEEK!
Hello PTP club members, Coach Aaron here with the next installment of "GAME OF THE WEEK!" . Every week I look over all of your games (I do mean all of them) and find a particular game that deserves to be highlighted. The purpose of this news segment is to encourage chess players to play their best chess, aspire other players and to give some well deserved attention to some hard fought games.
This week's game is brought to you by Coach Singleton. In this really short game we get to see what it looks like when a chess player has been working really hard on their chess, and a really neat tactic.
Analysis by Coach Aaron
That's how it's done! The majority of chess games played are decided by tactics, like the one we just saw. So it pays to do some puzzle training every day, that is one of the simpler ways to chess improvement.
There's always discussion on which is better to study, tactics or positional play (of course it's both but what to spend more time on?). This one wise phrase from a strong Grandmaster answers that question. "Tactics flow from good positions, not the other way around", It could be argued that "Of course good positions can flow from tactics, if I win a piece then my position is automatically better!" That's is technically true but what if a tactic never shows up? At the top levels of chess, tactics don't just show up, they are created by one side playing with position is mind. "How can I take control of that outpost?" "How can I add pressure to the weak kingside pawn structure" "My opponent has neglected his development for an early attack that was easily parried, how can I punish that?" These are the types of thoughts that will lead you to victory. With that kind of mentality, you'll read the position and the position will tell you what to play. That is another key to becoming a strong chess player, reading the position and letting it tell you what needs to be played. And eventually you'll be rewarded with a winning combination for your efforts, although it will be hidden.
That's all for this week's "GAME OF THE WEEK!", please leave comments and ask questions down below. If you would like to have one of your games that you're proud of featured on "GAME OF THE WEEK!" please send them to me and I'll take a look. Thank you for all for reading, please be safe, play lots of chess and have a good one!
