Trade on Enemy Soil

When you are even or ahead in material, it is typically to your advantage to make trades.  However, where you make those trades can have a huge impact on your or your opponent's infrastructure.  Initiating trades on your opponent's turf may give you two huge advantages:

1. Initiating trades puts you in control, leaving your opponent to respond to your moves and waste moves that could have been used toward planned attacks.

2. Initiating trades on your opponent's turf can be a great way to destabilize your opponent's position. 

Trading pawns and even trades with pawns, i.e., white's pawn takes knight/bishop, then black's pawn takes knight/bishop, can lead to broken pawn chains, isolated pawns, backward pawns, hanging pawns, doubled or even tripled pawns—all leading to a destabilized defense and a highly vulnerable king.  Conversely, trades that make your infrastructure weak should be avoided, so remember—trade on enemy soil.