"Little" tactics

While discussing the current state of chess with my son on the way home from the club, he remarked on the absence of grand kingside attacks at the very top. He said he saw lots of queenside attacks, but not so many kingside ones.
In answer, I thought one of the main reasons is that the modern style is a return the the Steinitz idea of the "accumulation of advantages". Of course being a modern implementation of an older idea, how it is done now is far different from Steinitz's methods. In fact it probably owes more the the Capablanca approach of 'little combinations', married with the practicality of Lasker's play. In essence, the modern game involves moving your position from 0.05 to 0.20 (according to the computer in your head), often via an accurately calculated tactical sequence. Once you get to 0.20, you then aim for 0.50, constantly improving as you go.
The concept of a chess game as a series of tactical sorties struck me while playing through the Gawain Jones v Hikaru Nakamura game from the London Chess Classic. Especially around the move 20 mark, where Jones gave up the exchange, only for Nakamura to return it a few moves later. Once the tension in the position was resolved, what was left was BvN ending, which was eventually drawn after a significant amount of play. Ultimately, while the tactics were necessary, the end result was a position where technique counted for more than creativity.


Jones,Gawain C (2644) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2760) [D97]
4th London Chess Classic London ENG (3.3), 03.12.2012

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Na6 8. Be2 c5 9. d5 e6 10. O-O exd5 11. exd5 Re8 12. Rd1 Qb6 13. d6 Be6 14. Qh4 Qb4 15. Bg5 Nd7 16. Be7 Qxh4 17. Bxh4 Nb4 18. Rd2 a6 19. Ng5 Nd5 20. Rxd5 Bxd5 21. Nxd5 Rxe2 22. Ne7+ Rxe7 23. dxe7 Re8 24. Ne4 f6 25. Re1 Rxe7 26. Nxf6+ Bxf6 27. Rxe7 Bxe7 28. Bxe7 Kf7 29. Bg5 Ne5 30. Kf1 Nd3 31. b3 Nb4 32. a4 Ke6 33. Ke2 Kd5 34. Kd2 c4 35. Kc3 cxb3 36. Kxb3 Nd3 37. Be3 Ne1 38. g3 b5 39. axb5 axb5 40. Bb6 Kc6 41. Ba7 Nf3 42. h4 Ne5 43. Kb4 Ng4 44. Bc5 Nf6 45. Bd4 Nd5+ 46. Ka5 Nc7 47. Kb4 Na6+ 48. Ka5 Nc5 49. Kb4 Nd3+ 50. Kc3 Ne1 51. Ba7 Nf3 52. Kb3 h6 53. Be3 h5 54. Ba7 Ne5 55. Kb4 Ng4 56. Bc5 Kd5 57. Kxb5 Ke4 58. Kc6 Kf3 59. Kd5 Nxf2 60. Ke6 Ne4 61. Be7 Kg4 62. Bd8 Nxg3 63. Kf7 Kf5 64. Kg7 Ne4 65. Kh6 Nc5 66. Bg5 Ne6 67. Be7 Nd4 68. Bg5 Nc6 69. Kg7 Nd4 70. Kh6 Nf3 71. Bd8 Ne5 72. Kg7 Nf3 73. Kh6 Kg4 74. Kxg6 Nxh4+ 75. Kh6 Nf3 76. Bf6 Nd2 77. Kg6 Nc4 78. Kh6 Nd6 79. Kg6 h4 80. Bxh4 Kxh4 1/2-1/2