CLEARANCE - How to Exchange Pieces - Elisabeth Pahtz

Which pieces to keep and which to exchange is one of the most important questions in chess. This is true in the opening, the middlegame and the endgame. Less experienced players often think exchanging means to swap pieces of equal value and fail to take strategic factors into account. Of course, you have to keep the material balance in mind but it is crucial to realize how exchanges affect the position. The „feeling“ for the right exchange – players like Capablanca or Karpov were unrivalled masters of this art – is something a chessplayer has to develop over time. This DVD wants to help to develop this „feeling“. On this DVD I want to pursue the questions related to "exchanging" and to answer these questions with the help of instructive games to develop a "feeling" for the right exchange. I divided my lecture into four parts:

1) Structural aspects of an exchange
2) Exchanging when attacking or defending
3) Exchanging to realize an advantage
4) The exchange of queens
To exchange or not to exchange: that is the question!


• Video running time: 4 hours 35 minutes (English)
• With interactive training incuding video feedback
• 2 CBM articles about the exchange
• Including CB 12 – Reader