trading queens

hi everyone! i have a question. i’ve heard a lot of chess streamers saying things like “omg you are loosing already, why trade the queen” or “you have an advantage, why on earth would you trade queens”.

so my question is when exactly do you make such a trade? in the battles of grandmasters i see it in a different positions and phases of the game

If your in a losing position, trading queens is helping your opponent to simplify the position and make it easier to convert their advantages. If you both have a Queen they have to work harder to get around the strength of a Queen. If you have an big advantage and their king is in danger you don’t want to give away your Queen because you need it to attack and checkmate. Therein lies the answer. If your in a dangerous position, attempt to trade queens. With their Queen off the board it’s easier to defend. I can’t explain in the greatest detail but here’s an excellent video that helped and is still continuing to help me decide when to trade and when not to trade. https://youtu.be/xnltKpdtetc

You can copy and paste the link into your browser

thank you!

 

"when exactly do you make such a trade?"
When you have a static long term advantage, trade queens to approach a won endgame.
When you are defending against an attack on your king, trade queens to relief the pressure.
When your opponent has his queen in the center, trade it to undo that advantage.

Good video where he discusses evaluating a piece trade generally. Good commentary... but he's a tad overly obsessed with pawn duos in the centre. Going by the logic of that you'll be accepting every opening gambit you meet. I'd take that advice with a grain of salt...

 

Typically it depends on activity.

Assuming the position is not figured out to a win, and assuming you are not already dead lost, looking for desperation, look at the activity and space.

 

If your queen is passive (passive and playing a critical DEFENSIVE role are not the same thing), and his is active, a trade for you is good as it relieves pressure.

 

If you have the initiative, keeping as many pieces on, including the Queen, is the way to go as removing the pieces removes the initiative.

 

If you have a space advantage, keep pieces on.  It is a lot easier for him to move 2 pieces in a tight space than 8 pieces in a tight space.  Advanced pawns that are not protected by other pawns become weaker as pieces are traded off unless trading off removes ALL defensive pieces in range to stop promotion.

 

Hope this clarifies.

thanks!

The queens represents dynamic play. You want to keep them if you have an initiative, more piece activity, or other dynamic advantage.

You want to trade queens if your trumps are static like a lead in material or your opponent has a bad pawn structure that you can pressure.

One of the first things I look at in a blitz game, for example, is king safety. If everything seems pretty equal, but the pawns in front of their king are missing or advanced (while the pawns in front of my king aren't) then I wont trade queens.

Oh, and you might ask why bother trading if your advantage is static and doesn't involve your queen. You do it because typically if your trumps are static, then your opponent's counter chances are dynamic so by trading queens you're diminishing their counterplay.

These are just the rules of thumb. Of course individual positions should be judged on their own, and short term gains / losses (like tactics) can mean the best move breaks these rules.

MisterWindUpBird pawn duos are very crucial to controlling the center and you need to stop it if you want a good position. I don’t think it’s overly obsessed I think it’s just a deeper understanding and knowledge. He’s a national master and is truly and the IM level.

@Jalex13, I will keep this in mind. I get how controlling the centre is important, and you're right saying 'he's an IM.' He surely knows more than me. So which rule of thumb trumps which? -'You don't want a open game if you're behind in development,' or -'Trade to destroy pawn duos in the centre whenever possible?' 

 

Good advice Jalex13, thank you!

Hi!

A lot of good advice on evaluating when to trade and not to trade pieces, this is an extremely common issue when learning chess as I often see a player have a nice position, make a few trades of pieces without any gain from it, and watch their nice position evaporate as a result. The golden rule of thumb is, if you're behind in material avoid equal value trades whenever possible (i.e. don't get checkmated by doing so, or losing more uncompensated material as a result), and also avoid trades when you've got an attack going on, specifically queens, if you aren't forcing checkmate or gaining a material/concrete positional advantage! Conversely, when defending or in a cramped position, it's often a good idea to look for trades as it'll often give you a better or easier position to play from as a result.

As you learn more concepts and patterns, you'll often have a better understanding of when and why trades are or aren't good to make. This takes time and experience, so don't expect to instantly understand this, but often it's good to ask, "if I trade here, what do I gain from it?" If you can't think of a good reason why, then typically that's a sign not to trade!

-Jordan

MisterWindUpBird I watch tons of his videos and have never felt that I needed to accept all gambits or do anything similar. In fact many times I don’t. I normally attempt to create my own pawn duo to challenge the center. Maybe you should consider this. It’s true you don’t want the game to be open because if your behind in development their rooks become involved and help in the attack.

For example if I face the queens gambit I will decline and then attempt to mirror their pawn duo

I personally think that in trading, situation is the most important thing.