So, as a beginner interested in improving, I've been reading around a lot on how to get better at chess. One thing I've noticed being recommended consistently by grandmasters and most others rated above 2000 is to focus on tactics rather than openings and such. The argument, a convincing one, is that by learning specific lines rather than improving tactics, you will cave and blunder when a competent player uses a line you're unfamiliar with and have not memorized an answer to. Since it's not possible to memorize every possible line and counter, studying openings as a beginner merely masks the symptoms of the root problem. It is only after this root problem is dealt with that specific lines become relevant, because a win or loss is due more to positional advantages than tactics.
However. the immediately following question which never seems to be explained, is how to learn tactics. How did these grandmasters and exceptional players gain the tactical know-how they possess? How do you gain the ability to competently answer a completely foreign method of attack/defense? Even articles devoted to the topic of tactics only seem to cover it superficially.
Rather than wasting time, I want to deal with the root problem as comprehensively as possible.
However. the immediately following question which never seems to be explained, is how to learn tactics. How did these grandmasters and exceptional players gain the tactical know-how they possess? How do you gain the ability to competently answer a completely foreign method of attack/defense? Even articles devoted to the topic of tactics only seem to cover it superficially.
Rather than wasting time, I want to deal with the root problem as comprehensively as possible.