Why tactical training alone hasn't worked for me....

I stumbled across this web page that explains it better than I could. It is a very interesting read. This statement pretty much sums it up for me:

"Here is my hypothesis: My friend and I are both afflicted with the same problem, Forcing The Issue. We have spent so much effort learning tactics from setup positions, that once we are in a real game, we try to apply our lessons to positions that don't warrant it. Subconsciously, we believe that every position has some stunning combination in it that will allow us to win. When we look for it, if it's not there (most often the case), we try to force one, causing a lost game.

"Studying tactics in setup positions is a VERY necessary part of learning chess, but, knowing when to apply tactical knowledge is, at this point in my education, to me even more important. My friend's opponent instinctively makes "better" moves because my friend is making weaker moves, and so am I. Given a setup position, he would most likely find the solution much faster than his opponent. In a general position, we would both likely find a combination that wasn't there." -- Gene THOMPSON, The Search for Great ChessPart V, Chess Scene

I also wanted to comment on another thing Nezha said. He was talking about all he could get was a 1 point positional advantage based on computer analysis and was not able to take advantage of it. Positional advantages lead to tactical advantages. Basically this comes in 2 flavors. Over protection (denying your opponent tactical opportunities) and space. I have never engaged in over protection(hard for me to grasp the concept with the way I like to play). I have learned about space. I read about it in some of Silman's books but it was never clear what to do with it when I got it. When I first tried to take advantage of space I thought that space advantage should be pushed....constricted as Silman says. I have learned though that the advantage of space is 2 fold. First there is the practical side. Space yeilds out posts in your enemy territory and restricts your opponents area to play. As your opponent runs out of squares tactics appear. Or perhaps you can get your opponents pieces isolated from the King where you can launch your attack. Somewhere I read that GMs think about squares instead of pieces. I had a long think on this and am starting to use it in my games. It has been very enlightening for me. The second advantage of space is the psychological pressure. In one of my recent games I had space and had been making a series of direct and tactical threats. I threatened his queen and he had one move to make to avoid losing material. He cracked under the pressure (told me after the game) and moved his queen enprise for my knight.

I found this page when I accidentally found this training guide.