The experts have all concluded that in any chess game, white has the advantage because of the first move. While we’re not going to dispute that, we are going to take a look at whether or not playing white is going to ultimately give you a better chance of winning.
In the upper levels of this game, where you are dealing with grand masters, white is an overwhelming advantage. To achieve a draw in a game when playing black is actually considered a victory and to win a game is a major upset. But what about the people who aren’t quite at that level yet? Does the same advantage exist? Well, that all depends on the style of game that you play. For some people, they may actually be more comfortable playing black.
For the person who enjoys being on the attack and keeping his opponent on his toes, white is the obvious choice. With the powerful queens pawn openings available to him, he can launch an attack that will continuously keep black on his toes. And that is actually the main advantage of playing white, not so much that you have the first move but that you have the choice of which first move to play. You can dictate the way the game will go and control it to your liking.
For example, let’s say you know that your opponent likes to play the Sicilian defense to your P-K4 opening. Knowing this, you can start off with P-Q4 instead and keep him from playing his favorite defensive opening. This will force him to choose his 2nd favorite or even 3rd favorite reply to your opening move. This is literally putting black on the defensive.
However, players who play black can also in a sense dictate the style of play. If white starts off with P-K4, there are a number of responses that black has to his liking. If he has studied the games of the person playing white, or has played against him many times before, he will have a good idea of where he likes to take his play.
For example. Let’s say white enjoys starting with P-K4 in the hopes that black will play his Sicilian response P-QB4. Black may surprise white, knowing that he actually enjoys playing against the Sicilian defense and instead responds with P-K4. Now, white has to rethink his game plan on the spot and doesn’t have the luxury of taking a lot of time to do this since most match games are played with a time clock allowing each player so many minutes to make 40 moves.
Obviously, the above is all very simplified. Chess is a lot more complex than just the first couple of moves of a game. But the truth is, it is those first few moves that dictate the way the rest of the game will play. Yes, there are a few openings that can actually have the same end result. But most openings will lead you to completely different middle games depending on which one is played.
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Chess
