Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat Malinda Seneviratne Column – nation.lk – The Nation Newspaper

Sven Magnus Carlsen, the Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the current World Chess Champion, World Rapid Chess Champion, and World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen first reached the top of the FIDE world rankings in 2010, and trails only Garry Kasparov in time spent as the highest rated player in the world. His peak classical rating of 2,882 is the highest in history. Carlsen also holds the record for the longest unbeaten run in classical chess

Regular readers of this column will no doubt have noticed that I draw heavily from cricket and chess. The pieces, I hope, have application-value outside of cricket and chess; but anyway, its simply because I played competitive chess and still play a lot of online games and because Im a keen follower of cricket. I am your average sports fan who knows something but not much about most sports and a little more about one or two.

Anyway, I felt I needed to get that out of the way.

The column, then. The example is chess. Again. Bear with me.

Now in chess there are positions where neither of the players have any edge, not even a slight advantage. An equal position, is how it would be described, by players and engines.

Sometimes it is a blocked position with few or no openings for either player to break through into the enemys camp. Sometimes its an ending where the particular complement of pieces simply means that one player controls some squares (say the dark ones) and the other the rest (light squares), typically in an opposite coloured bishop ending.Sometimes its just that both players are short of ideas and imagination.

If neither player has an overwhelming desire to push for victory, then it could end with them agreeing to draw the game following a few cursory moves that neither threaten nor create weaknesses that the other could exploit.

Sometimes, draw or its possibility enters the mind of a player who overly depends on tactics.

If the piece-complement, their relations with one another, and the overall position do not lend towards tactical play, one often notices a kind of resignation.

That is, a resignation to a drawn result. However, as most chess players know, chess is a game of development. Its about striving to improve ones position. Relentlessly. Even in a blocked position, for example, one could decide to develop the least developed pieces. It doesnt necessarily deliver a victory but in the very least will reduce opportunities for the opponent to force a win.

Its all about strategy. In equal positions, many have learned the hard way, the player with a plan tends to win or at least improve chances of winning. Dead drawn positions do not always end in draws. One player might plan, visualise a winning position and strategise ways of getting there. He/she may or may not, but if the other player is complacent, there is always the possibility that he/she might err and provide that half-chance which makes the difference.

On the other hand, if one player banks on tactics and tactics alone, he/she might unconsciously become blind of subtle opportunities that help improve his/her position. From there to complacency is a short distance. Complacency always creates the possibility of error. Error, even if slight, can tip the scales.

Tactics are important, make no mistake. A wise man once said, strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory; tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

In chess, the length of the road is about fatigue and that matters too if its a long tournament or even just a single game afterwards. Long or short, the victory, sweet or otherwise, yields just a single point. That point is important. Hence the emphasis on strategy.

In certain positions and against opponents who drop their guard and become careless, tactics alone can deliver victory, but if one is playing stronger opponents at higher levels of competition, they wont be enough. Often necessary but seldom sufficient are tactics.

And without strategy, its just noise. You win battles or rather you may win a battle or two, but you could very well lose the war. You might come up with some neat tricks but more often than not, the opponent is not caught by surprise or left without opportunities to refute.

In general, in sports like in war, those who carefully plan are more likely to gain ground in the mini battles or sub-plots which, in the end, translate into incremental advantages that add up to give an edge that is decisive.

In the end, the noise does not count. Its the noise one earns the right to make AFTER the game is over that counts. Well, the result is what matters, but bragging rights about consolation prizes secured along the way are in the end of little import.

Strategy. It matters. One has to plan. Tactical opportunities present themselves if strategy is sound. The quote, by the way, is from Sun Tzus The Art of War. He knew about tactics. He knew about strategy. He always had the endgame in his sights. In war. In chess. In all sports. Even in life, one might add.

(The writer can be reached on [emailprotected] or http://www.malindawords.blogspot.com. Malinda Seneviratne is the Director/CEO of the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute. These are his personal views.)

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Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat Malinda Seneviratne Column - nation.lk - The Nation Newspaper