If you don’t ask yourself if your opponent has any threats, you will constantly be making blunders. Likewise, if you don't look for tactical threat before you move, you will constantly miss them. There’s no point in strategic planning when there’s a winning combination in the position.
As Teichmann once put it, chess is 99 per cent tactics, but after playing on some servers I have come to the conclusion that a lot of amateur players have no idea what tactics are.
They seem to think that just willy-nilly sacrificing a piece or making a bad move for the sake of a vague "threat" is playing tactically.
They play like the guy I played several games against online the other day. He insisted on plying 1.e5 and 2.Qh5; sure Nakamura has played it in Blitz, but he's a Super-GM. My opponent also liked to play Bf4 and Bxf7+ or Nf3, Ng5 and Nxf7.
We had a little conversation between moves and when I asked him about it, his comment was that he wins a lot of games by playing tactically. He wasn't playing tactically, he was blundering.
Another opponent who was badgering me and using a lot of profanity stated he was an "opening innovator." When I replied that there is a difference between an opening innovation and a bad move, it elicited a string of cuss words. I took great pleasure in gloating over beating him a couple of times.
The point is that there is a difference between playing tactically and giving away a piece for nothing. Purdy always emphasized sound tactics. I am discounting Tal-like, risky, unclear sacrifices because most of us are not as good as he was and can't calculate like he did.
The way you find tactics is not looking at the position and trying various moves until you find something that works. If you see one or more of these things, there is a possibility that a tactical solution exists:
1. Look at all checks.
2. Look for undefended pieces.
3. Look for pins and forks.
4. Look for pieces (especially the King!) that do not have any escape squares.
5. Look for masked pieces (i.e. pieces on the same line)
6. Look for pieces that may be performing more than one defensive task
7. Finally, briefly look at bizarre and surprising moves, sacrifices, Pawn breaks and “obviously unplayable” moves.
More often than not, there won't be a sound tactic available, but only after you have ascertained that there isn't should you proceed with your strategical plan, assuming you have one...a lot of amateurs don't.
Back in my day positional play was emphasized and tactics were a neglected area. Today it's the other way around, or at least it seems that way.
During a game, especially in complicated, unclear positions, you have to be extremely attentive otherwise unpleasant surprises will await you.
No matter how good a strategical plan might be, a tactical mistake will completely ruin it. That's a problem with chess...it may take 40 moves to win, but only one bad one to lose.
The following short, but highly instructive game, played by two Moscow masters demonstrates some general ideas typical of the middlegame and a clash of two strategical plans.
White, relying on his lead in development, concentrated his pieces in the center and prepared an attack on the black King that was not castled. Black sacrificed a Pawn hoping for a counterattack on the Q-side where white was castled.
The game was decided by a Queen sacrifice when in final mating
attack saw all the white pieces taking part. Yuri Averbakh described the action:
1. The R on d1 took away the black K's squares on the d-file and defended the N at d8.
2. The N, in tum, deprived the K of f7 square, the B deprived the K of f6
3. The R on e1 landed the fatal blow.
While all that was happening, for black's part...
1. His B on f8 and P on f6 not only failed to help, they actually hinder the K's escape.
2. The rest of black's pieces were cheerless spectators in the execution of their own monarch.
The winner, Mikhail Bronch-Osmolovsky (1919-1975) was awarded the Soviet National Master title in 1951. He is known for his contributions to opening theory and as a Soviet arbiter and President of the central chess section of the Burivyestnik Club. Nothing is known of his opponent, Boris Baranov (1923-1976).
Mikhail Bronch-Osmolovsky–Boris Baranov1–0USSR Champ Qualifier, Moscow1953Stockfish 15
Petroff Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 f6 3.d4 If 3.Nxe5 black should first play
3...d6 and only then play ...Nxe4. The point is that on the immediate 3...Nxe4
white has the strong reply 4.Qe2 3.xe5 d6 3...xe4 4.e2 e7 5.xe4 d6 6.d4 dxe5 7.dxe5 White has won a P. 4.f3 xe4 5.d4 d5 6.d3 etc. 3...exd4 4.e5 4.c4 This inviting move which should lead to approximate
equality has not worked out well for white in practice. c6 5.0-0 xe4 6.e1 Oddly, there is no way for white to take advantage of the pin. d5 7.xd5 xd5 8.c3 a5 9.xe4 e6 10.eg5 0-0-0 11.xe6 fxe6 12.xe6 with an
equal position. 4...e4 5.xd4 d5 6.exd6 xd6 7.d3 7.g5 can be met
by c6 Also quite playable is 7...f6 8.e3+ e7 9.c3 h6 10.xe7 xe7 11.xe7+ xe7 equals 7...e7+ Averbakh claimed that 7...Nc6 is more accurate
here. With the move in the game black plans to answer 8.Be3 with 8...Nf5
exchanging a N for a B, but this operation leads to a loss of time and to
black delaying the develop- ment of his pieces. 7...c6 8.f4 g6 9.c3 g7 10.0-0 0-0 with complete equality. 8.e3 f5 But, this is questionable.
It was not yet too late for black to reject his initial plan. By playing 8...
Bf5 he would have gained an acceptable position, but after the text he
encounters significant problems. 8...c6 9.f4 g6 10.c3 e6 11.d4 d7 12.xc6 bxc6 13.a4 g7 14.0-0 0-0 White is better. Korchnoi, V-Averbakh,Y
Sverdlovsk 1957 8...f5 9.c3 c6 10.f4 xd3 11.cxd3 0-0-0 with equal
chances. 9.xf5 xf5 10.c3 Offering black a P, but taking it would be
extremely dangerous: 10.f4 Doesn't accomplish anything. d7 11.e5+ e6 12.c3= 10...b4 This loses! By playing his Q to the Q-side
where to all appearances white's K is intending to take shelter, black leaves
his own K in the center a tad too long and white, having the initiative, is
able to launch a decisive attack. 10...xc2 is just too dangerous. 11.c1 c6 11...g6 12.d5 is fatal for black. 12.f4 b4 With the obvious
threat of ...Nd3+ 13.0-0 d3 14.f5 xc1 15.xc2 and white is better. 10...c6 this is the correct move. After 11.f4 d7 11...g6 12.d5
and wins. d6 13.xc7+ 12.b5 0-0-0 white's advantage is minimal. 11.e5+ Of course, there is no point in white exchanging Qs because his lead in
development is best exploited by attacking. e6 12.0-0-0 12.xc7 White
fails to be tempted with this P grab. d6 13.a3 xb2 14.d1 xc7 14...xa1 15.xb7 0-0 16.xa8 d8 Black is better. 15.xb2 c6 with the advantage
to black. 12...c6 In the hope of mounting an attack along the c-file,
black tries to buy off his opponent with a Pawn. 13.xc7 c8 14.f4 a5 14...e7 hoping to castle is met by 15.d5 a5 16.xe7 xe7 17.a3 0-0
Black has no compensation for the P minus. 15.g5 Interestying strategy.
By offering the exchange of Qs now that he is a P up, white switches his Q to
an active position with gain of tempo. a6 15...xg5 16.xg5 e7 16...f5 17.he1 f6 17...e7 18.c5 wins 18.c5+ e5 19.xf8 xf8 20.ge4
with a won ending. 17.xe6 fxe6 18.b5 with an ending that clearly favors
white. 16.he1 White's pieces are fully mobilized and are ready for
decisive action whereas black has not yet resolved the question of
safeguarding his K. Realizing his situation is desperate, black tries to
counterattack. b4 17.d4 xc3 Self-immolation...this allows a
mate in 6. 17...f6 18.h5+ g6 19.b5+ xb5 20.dxb5 f7 20...xa2+ 21.xa2 xa2 22.h6+ f7 23.d7+ g8 24.xf8 xf8 25.b3 wins 21.xa7 f5 22.d4 d7 23.a3 c6 24.db5 Here, too, white has a won ending. 18.d8+ White mates. This is the only satisfactory answer to black's last
move! 18.bxc3 would have been a most unfortunate move. xa2+ 19.d2 19.b1 xc3+ 20.c1 a3+ 21.d2 e4# 19...xc3 20.xc3 Forced. c4+ 21.d2 21.b2 a3+ 22.xa3 a2+ 23.b4 Black has to take the draw with 23...Qc4+
because after 0-0 24.c3 white would be winning. 21...b4+ 22.c1 a3+
draws 18...xd8 19.xe6+ Again, this is the only move that wins. 19.bxc3 xa2+ 20.d2 and it'd black who is winning. 19...e7 20.g5+
To repeat myself, this is the only move that wins. It is important not to let
the K escape to f6. 20.c5+ f6 and there is no decisive followup
whatsoever! 21.d4+ g6 22.xf8+ xf8 23.xc3 xa2+ and wins. 20...f6 21.d8+ White mates in two...very precise play by Bonch-Osmolovsky. 1–0
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