In my books I tend to stress positional understanding and learning to read the imbalances in any given position. However, part of that "body language of the board" mentality is knowing when a position is based on statics and when a position is dependent on dynamics (not to mention those situations when both statics and dynamics combine to form one complex mess!).

Knowing the "tempo" of a game is important since it will tell you when patience is required, and when a berserk burst of activity is needed. Moreover, even when brute force is in the position's blood, what mix of strategic understanding and raw calculation is correct?

BLACK TO MOVE

The position in the diagram is teetering on two paths: Black can exchange Queens and accept a pawn down endgame (this would take us into a static, technical position), or he can find some sort of dynamic counterattacking option. However, if the latter idea is correct, make sure you assess the resulting complications properly.

Correctly assessing the possible paths will require high-level calculation. No cheating! Don't use a computer. Instead, analyze the position as best you can (as if it were a tournament game), write down your thoughts and variations, and then share it with the rest of the readership by writing to: silman@jeremysilman.com