The exchange (chess) The exchange (chess) The exchange in chess refers to a situation in which one player loses a minor piece (i.e. a bishop or knight) but captures the opponent's rook. The side which wins the rook is said to have "won the exchange", while the other player has "lost the exchange", since the rook is usually more valuable. Alternatively, the side that has won the rook is "up the exchange", and the other player is "down the exchange". The opposing captures often happen on consecutive moves, although this is not strictly necessary. It is generally detrimental to lose the exchange, although
Chess is under attack, or a stalemate (a draw) if the king is not. Each chess piece has its own way of moving. In the diagrams, the dots mark the squares where the piece can move if there are no intervening piece(s) of either color. Once in every game, each king is allowed to make a special move, known as "castling". Castling consists of moving the king two squares along the first rank toward a rook (which is on the player's first rank) and then placing the rook on the last square that the king has just crossed. Castling is permissible