Chess Playing Styles
15 Dec '07 12:53I was thinking to myself, what are the different playing styles and what characterises them? Most would say there is just two styles - tactical and positional but I have come to the conclusion that there are, in fact, distinct sub groups which I will list here but would like anybody who thinks they know something I have missed to add to this topic.
The Hacker: A very aggressive type who does not believe in any sort of positional play. Will often try and win soon after the opening and sacrifices complete development of pieces in order to launch some sort of early attack. Expect sacrifices and early aggressive pawn thrusts (such as h4 or g4). Usually, can be dealt with by surviving through to the later stages of the game where their weakened pawn structures let them down.
The Psyco: The most aggressive of all - a player who considers checkmate as the only way to end a game and will try and gain the initiative at all times, no matter what the material cost. Be wary of letting your guard down, as they will almost always find a swindle even when in a bad position. They often specialise in gambit openings, and those that do are especially tricky to deal with while they are in 'book'.
The most effective way to deal with these types is a counterattack as soon as possible as they absolutely hate being on the defensive side and will often defend recklessly.
The Grinder: A very positional player (tending to be the type who plays 1.d4,c4 or Nf3) who is willing to block almost the entire board up with solid pawn structures, then try and slowly creep his pieces towards you, giving as few opportunities as possible for the game to open.
Difficult to deal with when they have white, but if they are black then creating openings often confuses them as they are used to activity being concentrated in a single area of the board.
The Disruptor: Probably the most irritating type of player - they tend to be the ones who make annoying early pawn moves instead of developing pieces in order to mess up the structure somehow. They will also be the sorts of players who attempt to slow down their opponents development in any way possible. They tend towards tactical play, but also can be dangerous positional players too.
The Blocker: The kind of player whose only plan is to prevent his opponant from doing anything - sometimes plays offbeat systems to avoid any complications, but is quite willing to take advantage of any mistakes made by a frustrated opponent. Dealing with these types can be hard as they are usually good defenders, but they tend to break down once the position becomes unbalanced.
The Hacker: A very aggressive type who does not believe in any sort of positional play. Will often try and win soon after the opening and sacrifices complete development of pieces in order to launch some sort of early attack. Expect sacrifices and early aggressive pawn thrusts (such as h4 or g4). Usually, can be dealt with by surviving through to the later stages of the game where their weakened pawn structures let them down.
The Psyco: The most aggressive of all - a player who considers checkmate as the only way to end a game and will try and gain the initiative at all times, no matter what the material cost. Be wary of letting your guard down, as they will almost always find a swindle even when in a bad position. They often specialise in gambit openings, and those that do are especially tricky to deal with while they are in 'book'.
The most effective way to deal with these types is a counterattack as soon as possible as they absolutely hate being on the defensive side and will often defend recklessly.
The Grinder: A very positional player (tending to be the type who plays 1.d4,c4 or Nf3) who is willing to block almost the entire board up with solid pawn structures, then try and slowly creep his pieces towards you, giving as few opportunities as possible for the game to open.
Difficult to deal with when they have white, but if they are black then creating openings often confuses them as they are used to activity being concentrated in a single area of the board.
The Disruptor: Probably the most irritating type of player - they tend to be the ones who make annoying early pawn moves instead of developing pieces in order to mess up the structure somehow. They will also be the sorts of players who attempt to slow down their opponents development in any way possible. They tend towards tactical play, but also can be dangerous positional players too.
The Blocker: The kind of player whose only plan is to prevent his opponant from doing anything - sometimes plays offbeat systems to avoid any complications, but is quite willing to take advantage of any mistakes made by a frustrated opponent. Dealing with these types can be hard as they are usually good defenders, but they tend to break down once the position becomes unbalanced.
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