Today’s article is the last in a series of the positional methods of Magnus Carlsen’s games. It should come as no surprise that the theme ends with piece exchanges given the knowledge of the World Champion’s style. In this regard, Carlsen excels because he has a keen awareness of when to sell off to a position with fewer pieces.
Carlsen plays the late stages of the game like a skilled, and many of his games end in endgame situations. Anand said, “You could say that both Fischer and Carlsen had or have the ability to let chess look simple.”
Exchanges are a large enough topic to discuss in more than one article. I will discuss a few key points about it using six quotes from Magnus Carlen’s play.
Exchanges may result in a position where one side has the advantage and the other does not have any counterplay. One can wait to observe if the opponent falls or slowly improves their position. This type of relationship characterizes the first example.
In this Sicilian pawn configuration, Black has made the e-pawn advance. Generally speaking, White can hardly ever capture on d4 with a pawn in this scenario. The pieces are on the d5-square. Playing against the d6-pawn is one of the key themes in this position because the white rooks are already on the c- and d-files. The d6-pawn is not a vulnerability if White uses the pawn to block the d5-square. Through a series of exchanges, Carlsen speeds into a more advantageous endgame. He applies pressure to the opposition until the very end of the game, but Ivanchuk plays excellent defense, and the match ends in a draw.
It didn’t work out for Carlsen to win the game mentioned above. Though he put maximum effort and was pressing, Black could still hold the position. The same tactic resulted in victory in the next position.
White has two passed pawns on the queenside after exchanging the knight for the bishop in the endgame. Undoubtedly, the white king is shown, and Carlsen needs to show some accuracy, but once the queens are gone, the whites will win. By bringing the king and centralizing the pieces, Carlsen first strengthened his position. He then begins to advance his passed pawn and wins some pawns on the kingside.
Exchanges can occur where one is receiving it as well. The goal of your opponent is to encourage a trade that will not benefit you. The best course of action in this case is to avoid the trade. When it comes to bishops, the party with firm control over the squares under the bishop’s control is typically the one seeking a bishop exchange.
In the example below, White has dark squares for the majority of his pawns, therefore it stands to reason that his final move would be to take out Black’s dark-squared bishop. To regroup on the c-file and take the light squares, Carlsen is hesitant to exchange the bishop for the knight. Although the white bishop can reach d6, its presence there won’t be as harmful as it would be if the knight showed up.
During exchanges, winning material is a hot topic. To guarantee that the trade results in an actual advantage, one must, however, perform many calculations because it is not always that simple.
Carlsen needed to witness a “trunk-type” line nine moves ahead in the next position to verify the exchange. It probably didn’t take him long to calculate this line.
Carlsen needs to decide where to place himself in the next position. He has two options: either keep the pieces alive in a worse position in the middle game or trade into a worse endgame with a rook for two pieces. Particularly when facing a player like Ivanchuk, the first option just offered endless pain. On the other hand, the opponent still has opportunities to make mistakes, even though the middlegame is objectively worse than the finale. Carlsen decides to keep things complicated, and sure enough, Ivanchuk stumbles a few moves in, giving Carlsen the advantage.
The following position can be determined from the pawn structure to have resulted from a Queen’s Indian. The center’s pawn configuration is still up for debate. If Black captures d4, he may find himself with a lonely pawn, whereas if White captures the c5-pawn, he may find himself with hanging pieces. Black should keep more pieces on the board in either case.
Carlsen comes up with a creative solution: to give his tangled-up knights more room, he exchanges two pieces. According to his remarks on ChessBase, “I decided that it was time to ease the pressure.” There are several benefits to 22…Bxc3. For the knight, black receives the e4-square, which can then be traded for Bb3. Second, since it’s unclear what other course of action White can take, Black practically requires White to decide on the center. Finally, we cannot overlook the fact that chess is a practical game and that Carlsen excels in endgame situations.