14 August 2012

Tactics and Strategy

How do we distinguish tactics from strategy? Strategy refers to grand objectives, while tactics are the means to achieve these. Archaeologist Richard Fox offers an explanation that may interest chess players.
For standing armies, battle is undertaken in accordance with codified tactical prescriptions. On the battlefield, tactics dictate the maneuvers of soldiers in quest of strategic goals, and they standardize individual actions for the common good. Tactics among standing armies, then, are the codified manners in which strategy is carried out.
Richard Allan Fox, Jr., Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Battle (1993), 10.

Knight forks, occupation of key squares, batteries, discovery, and other tactical motifs are comparable to the U.S. Cavalry's 1874 prescriptions to deploy companies in a particular manner.

2 comments:

  1. Hey, if I might give my two cents...http://iplayoochess.com/2011/07/19/strategy-versus-tactics/

    ReplyDelete