Coaches and books alike admonish us to study tactics more than anything else. It is often said that the vast majority of games are decided by them. But why?
Here’s a short list of reasons, followed by an explanation of the major points.
Studying tactics:
- significantly reduces the amount of blunders you make,
- improves your feeling for the pieces,
- is an integral part of fully exploiting any strategic plan,
- increases results, and is a lot of fun!
Most games are decided by tactics
As we discussed in the article what is a chess tactic, a chess tactic is the exploitation of a short-term opportunity in the position. This is in contrast to strategy which focuses on the exploitation of long-term opportunities (such as weaknesses in the opponent’s pawn structure, space advantage, etc.).
At the level of elite grandmasters, strategy plays an enormous role – often right from the opening. The struggle for some kind of long-term advantage starts straightaway and has a key influence over the development of the struggle. That being said, even at this level tactics play a key role in helping the strategy along or taking advantage of short-term defects that the opponent creates in his position.
But the further we remove ourselves from grandmaster level – ordinary masters, experts, club players – the more obvious it is that the most important skill is to take advantage of short-term situations created by the opponent’s mistakes. On the other hand, we have to be careful not to make mistakes which offer the opponent similar resources.
Reduce your blunders significantly
Blunders are an insidious problem. After a blunder or serious mistake we often feel that the reason is arbitrary. “I wasn’t concentrating enough”, “I was so close to winning and got overly excited”. All this may be actually have a grain of truth but grandmasters also have lapses of concentration, and they get excited too. So why do they blunder so much less? Because their feeling for chess is so developed that they naturally don’t even consider moves which would have negative tactical consequences.
I really want you to think about that. As your feeling for tactics grow, you naturally don’t even look at certain moves because you can sense instinctively that there’s a drawback. It is this “sixth sense” that you can develop by studying tactics (particularly by solving tactical puzzles). In this way your blunders naturally and drastically fall and you can free yourself from the grip of seemingly random blunders.
Improve your feeling for the pieces
As you get more skilled at tactics you’ll naturally develop a better feel for the pieces and their capabilities. You’ll learn intuitively why certain piece arrangements work better than others as you begin to understand tactics.
Lavrik (2387) – Vorobiov(2550)
Zvenigorod Open, 2008
White to move, Beginner puzzle from KEBU Chess Tactics Software 2009
Many players with a bit of experience will sense immediately the defects of Black’s position and will instantly see that White plays 25.Qxf6+!! because of the follow-up Rxh7 mate. This instant perception is facilitated by the knowledge of the mating theme involving the bishop’s control over the g8 square and the powerful arrangement of rooks on the h-file. Having seen such arrangements before and having a feeling for the pieces, a master will play this move in seconds – even in a blitz game. And many club players will do so just as quickly.
But it doesn’t end there. The stronger a player is, the more such patterns he organically commands, until he can effortlessly bring such positions about – especially against weaker opposition. Watch a master play a class C player and you’ll see that somehow the master always gets to deliver a “sneaky” blow because of his feeling for how to create and deliver them.
Tactics are an integral part of realizing a strategy
In chess, a long-term strategy cannot function without the help of tactics. It very often happens that one builds up a position or a strategy, and finally must use tactics to convert it.
Alonso(2466) – Lopez (2394)
Santiago de Chile, 2008
White to move
In the following position (which arose from a Ruy Lopez) White implemented the classic strategy of a kingside attack. Black’s light-squared bishop is precariously placed on c6 which allows White to use the f5 and g4 squares to help bring his pieces closer to the king. White’s greater command of space allows him to rapidly situate his pieces as well. The d6-pawn (which is “backwards”) is also a drawback in Black’s position. But in order for all of this to work, White has to make use of some tactics!
20.Ng4 Nxg4?! A bit cooperative. 21.Qxg4 Qd7 22.Nf5
The first tactical threat is created. White now threatens to capture on h6 since the pawn on g7 is pinned.
22…Kh7 23.Rd1!
With the help of tactical motifs, White has already created an unstoppable threat. There is no good way to protect against the threat of Rxd6! This move works because Black’s bishop can’t abandon the defense of g7 where White would otherwise give checkmate with his queen. The move 23…g6 gives White a couple of tactical options. The strongest is 24.Nxh6! when after 24…Bxh6 25.Qh4 regains the bishop with a free pawn, bishop pair, and initiative. Another is 24.Nxd6!? Bxd6 25.Qxd7 followed by 26.Rxd6 with a free pawn. You see? Tactics are definitely necessary to implement strategy.
It’s true that 23…d5 is possible, but then White can switch back to his overall strategy (attack on the king) with the move 24.Bc2! Suddenly the bishop is able to contribute to the attack and White’s advantage is decisive.
23…Nc4!? 24.Bxc4 bxc4 25.Rxd6!
25…Qb7 26.f3?
Strategically speaking, White would like to continue his development, pile rooks on the d-file, and then finish off his attack or otherwise overwhelm his helpless opponent. But it seems that the e4-pawn is hanging. So at the cost of time (he spends a move) which he could use towards his own ends he defends it. But by combining concrete tactics with his approach, he could have done remarkably better. 26.Be3! is a very strong move which prepares Rad1. And now if 26…Bxe4? White has 27.Rb6 Qd5
(27…Qc8 28.Qxe4 wins) 28.Rd1! And the queen is trapped. So Black can’t take the pawn. Instead, he’d have to allow White to roll through with his plans unhindered.
26…Bd7 27.Be3 g6? This breaks the strategic rule “avoid pawn moves on the side of the board where you are weaker” (and also “avoid pawn moves in front of your king”).
In this particular case, Black weakens the f6 and h6 points. White speedily uses tactics to take advantage of this. 28.Rf6! White occupies the newly weakened station and gives a threat to f7. Now if 28…gxf5? 29.Rxf7+ Kh8 30.Qg6! there is no defense to mate. 28…Kg8 Defending f7. 29.Qh4! White now attacks h6 – the newly weakened point. Again, Black play 29…gxf5 for concrete reasons. 30.exf5! And now there is surprisingly no way to stop the same plan of Qg3+, Rxf7, Qg6. 29…Bxf5 30.exf5 Be7 31.Bxh6! Black sure does regret having played …g6 doesn’t he? 31…Qc7 32.Bg5 Kg7 And now the final tactical operation…
White to move, Beginner puzzle from KEBU Chess Tactics Software 2009
33.Rxf7+! Black resigned because of 33…Kxf7 34.Qh7+ Kf8 35.Bh6+. A fantastic example of the blending of strategy and tactic! Such operations are the norm, not the exception. One very frequently uses short tactical operations to help achieve strategic aims. In a very real sense, learning tactics helps you to improve your strategy.
Have more fun, win more games with chess tactics!
Not only does the study of chess tactics improve your game in all the aforementioned ways – it also makes them more fun! The sacrifice of material is one of the most gratifying moments of a chess game because it often symbolizes superior strategy, powers of calculation, and a keen eye. Sacrificing is fun, pleasing, and it wins games!
The puzzles in this article came from KEBU Chess Tactics Software 2009. To download the free version with more puzzles like these, click here. Happy sacrificing!
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