To Exchange or Not to Exchange

Hamlet’s dilemma is a hard one not only in life, but also in chess. Sometimes, even the best players in the world go wrong and the reasons are not very obvious.

The position below with Black to play happened in the online game between Carlsen and Vachier in 2021. Even though the game started as a Grunfeld, this type of endgame of 3 vs 2 on the queenside …