Trading logic
Trade when it helps your worst piece or hurts their best. Trading a good knight for a passive bishop is a concession.
White to play
Nxc6
Two pawns up, trading the last pieces is the whole plan. What is left is a pawn ending White cannot lose.
What to look for
Before any capture, compare the two pieces by what they are doing rather than by their point value. The question is which of you will miss it.
When it applies
When you are ahead in material, trade pieces — fewer pieces means the extra material decides the game. When you are behind, keep pieces on and look for complications.
How it goes wrong
Equal points is not an equal trade. Your active knight for their bishop that has never moved is a bad deal at the same nominal price.
Where it came up
Not cited in your current game.
Practise it
No positions yet. When you miss this idea in a game, the position it cost you shows up here — and in the practise set — with the answer hidden.