Bucky Pizzarelli, master of the chord melody, says you should learn to play chords in a manner that only the three essential notes for accompaniment are sounded.

This represents a trade-off for which I'm not yet capable----three note chords will result in much less physical fatigue.....but lots of mental fatigue (for guys like me who are still--and always--learning the fretboard).

Still, there are lots of ways to get economical with a chord.