queen trades

hicetnunc wrote:

All things being equal, do you prefer to play with Qs or without them ?

 I like playing chess. Preferring to play without queens is a silly concept for any semi-serious player. It'd be like asking a musician which notes he'd rather not play.

All the notes, all the pieces--they are your tools. Anyone who is even a slightly serious student of the game

just needs to work on the fundamentals and get better at what chess requires.

I get the impression that most of the posters in this forum are  <1000 icc, some much lower. Well, if their relationship to chess is serious, one which is about genuine study of good materials on the game, then they need to  get on a different track than many we see in these forums. If you were to hang around players rated c. 2000 icc (still a student

but one that has the fundamentals down), you don't see them posing silly

questions. They talk about specific positions and when possible generalized

rules for types of positions. They got to 2000 by working on the fundamentals,

not silly stuff.

Queens are very fun to use, i'd be lonely without them. However, against lower ranked, i like to trade. It has been in my experiance, that the lower the ranking the more slaved they are to their Queen.

If they are "slaved" to their queen they are using it and using it poorly. This means the correct strategy is to harass the queen and gain either a positional or material advantage as a result, not exchange queens.

Not if they are still talented in using it!

mowque wrote:

Not if they are still talented in using it!

 You did say lower ranked. And being "slaved" to using a piece means weak player in any case.

Generally you'll want your queen around for much of the middle game as she can be responsible for some attacks or saves. however, to simplify an endgame, trade queens ASAP: good endgames have been lost due to tricky queens.

hicetnunc wrote:

All things being equal, do you prefer to play with Qs or without them ?

My question was aimed at the original poster

trading the queen should be thought according to the merit of the game.

Don't actively seek to trade against either weaker or stronger opposition. Stronger opposition will take advantage of the 2 or 3 tempi it takes you to trade by making their position stronger, making your other pieces less useful or getting their minor pieces into ideal positions. Weaker opposition may be trying to clear the board themselves, so exploit this in the same way if you can.

Sometimes a trade jumps out at you, for example if your queens are facing each other and after exchanging you end up with a rook controlling the open file, then this is good - go for it!

Only trade if your opponent's piece is stronger/more active/causing you pain or if by exchanging you strengthen the position of your own pieces/pawn structure or weaken your opponent's. This goes for all exchanges, not just Queens.

thanks to all of you for answering. wow. i'm more lost now than when i asked!!!! i'll answer some specific posts in a few. you have given me quite a bit to think on. thanks again, zlh.

Trade her!, then get her back by promoting a pawn.

I play the board. When you bring in factors like suggested, you are not making chess decisions. More often than not they are the wrong reasons.

in my opinion you should exchange when you will have a better position and exchanging against a lower ranked  player will help you since they dont have much experience playing without a queen

xMenace wrote:

I play the board. When you bring in factors like suggested, you are not making chess decisions. More often than not they are the wrong reasons.

Exactly. Play chess...play the board...gain knowledge and skill...play better

chess...rinse and repeat. Too many here have no idea what the standard, tried

and true chess teaching is, and they want to go on their way with a nonsense

understanding even when confronted with the conventional wisdom that is

working for those who have passed through the beginner stage and play

fundamentally solid chess. But why emulate those models of success I guess lol.

You know, there must be a chess road with a fork in it. The path to the left

is the conventional one as exemplified in books and successful players, and the

other path is for those who have a relationship with chess but not one that is

about truth on the board but one that is extremely superficial and about silly

self-gratification and stubborness. The same people who always bring out their

queen in the opening looking for an early mate and when that doesn't come they

just move her around--and no matter how many people say don't do that they

persist in that foolishness.

This forum is astonishingly full of beginners who are just like that: stubborn and foolish. I've never seen another like it where the beginners shrug off the advice of all the more experienced players. I say this in utter seriousness. Is there another chess site that has a forum like that?

edit: nevermind

Well, the only reason you should ever exchange material is if it gains you an advantage.

Or if it eliminates counterplay.

I just played a game where I had a knight, a bishop, a queen, and 4-5 pawns (one passed pawn on the h file), versus an opponent who had a queen, and 4-5 pawns (no passed pawns), and his king was on the queenside.

I engineered (meaning I spent tempi doing it) a trade where I ended up exchanging, my knight, bishop, and queen for his queen, putting him up 6 points in the exchange.  But he had no way to deal with my passed pawn and he lost the endgame.

Disadvantageous trade?  Yes, for sure.  I almost certainly could have won without trading with perfect play on both sides.  But I removed the chance of him finding a tactical oversight of mine or exploiting a potential blunder.

my daDDY made this topic yay.

i always like to keep my queen on the board for as long as i can! even if i am pieces down, i still feel confident enough to win if i have her!

however, if my king is in the open or i cannot castle or i have moved all my pawns in front of the castling side for king protection....then i would trade.

and yes i find the higher ranked players love to swap queens early if opportunity arises. CHICKENS!!!!

I do like to use my queen. Sometimes I take her out too early. Thanks to all for your answers. I guess IN GENERAL to keep the q against better players, to maybe trade against lesser(in hopes your better with the others) and of course anytime to gain an advantage. sometimes to threaten to see if they blunder. This has helped me lots. thanks again players, mike(zlhflans)

Erm... a bit OTT perhaps, goldendog. It might be better sharing some of this tried and tested practice with all the stubborn and foolish beginners.