Chess Vocabulary Confusion

[Digeng Du]

I've been reading some chess articles and watching some chess videos, and I keep seeing people use the word "change'. For example, they would say "In this position it's good to change knights", or 'change dark square bishops'. English isn't my first language, but I always thought the word should be 'exchange' rather than 'change'. Does 'change' mean something different in a chess context??

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Chess Vocabulary Confusion

I've been reading some chess articles and watching some chess videos, and I keep seeing people use the word "change'. For example, they would say "In this position it's good to change knights", or 'change dark square bishops'. English isn't my first language, but I always thought the word should be 'exchange' rather than 'change'. Does 'change' mean something different in a chess context??

No, but change is a synonym for exchange.

ex·change:

verb
1.
give something and receive something of the same kind in return.

synonyms: trade, swap, switch, change, interchange

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Chess Vocabulary Confusion

but I always thought the word should be 'exchange' rather than 'change'. Does 'change' mean something different in a chess context??

imho, (the) "exchange" is a rook for a knight or bishop. It leaves less confusion.

Anyway, you are right about "exchange" in general:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange_%28chess%29
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_exchange_(chess)

[Fred Harvey]

Re: Chess Vocabulary Confusion

No, but change is a synonym for exchange.

ex·change:

verb
1.
give something and receive something of the same kind in return.

synonyms: trade, swap, switch, change, interchange

I think it's a bit of a stretch to claim "change" is a synonym here. Exchange clearly means a swap. or trade etc, whereas change is just that, and to use it in the context of exchanging pieces is bad English in my book.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Chess Vocabulary Confusion

I think it's a bit of a stretch to claim "change" is a synonym here. Exchange clearly means a swap. or trade etc, whereas change is just that, and to use it in the context of exchanging pieces is bad English in my book.

Both my Oxford Dictionary and Oxford Thesaurus would disagree with you, Fred. The latter lists 5 synonyms for exchange, namely: trade, swap, switch, change, interchange in that precise order.

[Digeng Du]

Re: Chess Vocabulary Confusion

Thanks Guys!

[Fred Harvey]

Re: Chess Vocabulary Confusion

Both my Oxford Dictionary and Oxford Thesaurus would disagree with you, Fred. The latter lists 5 synonyms for exchange, namely: trade, swap, switch, change, interchange in that precise order.

Fascinating! And Merriam-Webster doesn't contemplate "change"...... It's all about context. I suppose if I stretched my imagination, I could think of a situation where "change" could be used in place of "exchange", but for the case under discussion, to exchange rooks is perfectly clear, to me anyway, whereas to change rooks begs the question....into what....penguins? That is bad English, and the OED is wrong!

Isn't it nice to be able to debate futile stuff like this, and steer clear of the abrasive topics like girls wiring? Cheers.....