Chess players tend to divide roughly between strategists and tacticians. The former, of course, prefer relatively quiet clean positions while the latter revel in mess. But the dichotomy is really something of a caricature. Tactical soundness underpins everything and if you scratch any really strong player however apparently dry their games, you will find a ferocious tactical intelligence underneath.
Some players — and I count myself among them — have two quite different modes (strategist and hacker) depending on mood and opportunity and this week's games come from one such.
A year and a half ago, I published in Agony #8 a couple of very positional games by Tomas Yttling a Swede who will be 40 this year. They were both highly positional involving the exploitation (one successful one only ending in a draw) of superior pawn structures but Tomas also mentioned that he sometimes likes to "go all in" and sent me two highly tactical ones, apparently from a quite different player.
Click or tap on the second game in the game list below the board to switch
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