And the game ended in a draw a few moves later.

Improving the Pawn Structure
A queen exchange, like other exchanges, can also be used for positional gains, for instance, if it allows you to reunite pawns or undouble a pawn when recapturing.

30...Qg6 31.Bxd5 cxd5 32.Qc7 or 30...g6 31.b3 also leave White clearly on top.

A nice concept. White gives up his backward pawn on d4 in order to enclose the bishop on a8 .

Now the picture is clear. Black cannot even prevent White from winning back a pawn on a5 .

In reality, exchanging is not about what is taken from the board, but more about what is left on the board. After an exchange of queens the strength of the remaining pieces may come to the fore, yielding a pleasant endgame.

White is hoping to use the a- and c-files for his rooks. The doubling of pawns on the way can make it harder for you to detect this possibility, though there are some famous precedents, for example, Smyslov-Tal, Bled 1959.

Otherwise Black would play . . . Na7-b5 .