Whites first move advantage

Has white got an advantage by playing the first move?

Most people prefer to play white and I think white wins most of the times, but it might also depend on the style of every player?

I really don't know...

Moon...

with good play yes white has an advantage

Every move in chess has advantages and disadvantages, including the first move by White.   The key is for Black to find the move(s) that exploits the disadvantages of White's first move and equalizes.  Sometimes that doesn't happen right away, but rather after a series of well known moves. This series of moves also known as variations are what is known as opening theory.  It is a very tricky business requiring alot of study and practice.

Statistically, white wins more often. However, proper play on both sides should always result in a draw. So I think that it is really the better player that has the advantage.

I personally prefer black... when playing white I feel too much pressure to come up with attacks

With black I just respond

redearth329 wrote:

 However, proper play on both sides should always result in a draw.

Are you sure about that?

TiagoDevesa wrote:

I personally prefer black... when playing white I feel too much pressure to come up with attacks

With black I just respond

I think it will help to play very much with white, then you will get more confidence and get a lot better with the white pieces too.

Strangly enough, I change all the time. Normally, I start playing better with one colour, and then after a month I begin winning only with the other (lol).

TheMoonwalker wrote:

redearth329 wrote:

 However, proper play on both sides should always result in a draw.

Are you sure about that?

 Quite. It's one of Wilhelm Steinitz' famous 'laws' of chess.

White has to go for the advantage and black has to go for equality, but if you're better you're going to win, no matter what.

Surprisingly there's a wikipedia article dedicated to this. Basically it says that opinions are varied on whether or not white has an advantage. It also mentions the other idea that a well played game should always end in a draw. And statistically, white wins between 52.55% and 55.4% of the time (depending on the library of games examined). And based on these statistics, whites first move allows a 35 ELO rating advantage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-move_advantage_in_chess

Ok, thanks for that one... an interesting site :)

White has the advantage of the first move, Black has the advantage of chosing the opening.

Can black choose the opening?

He means black 'chooses' the opening by the response he makes- they dont actually get to tell the white player what opening to do

I prefer to play black. With white, going first meens you can loose faster. If that makes sence...

While the game has not been solved (theoretically), we can't say anything :o/

The advantage of going first is not realy that great. In some competitions if white has not gained a big enough advantage over black, black would win so both colours have their advantages and they are pretty much equal. It does not matter which colour you are as the styles of play will differ and the skill will vary between two players.

think of it like this: you engage into a fist fight, and the other fighter gives you a free punch. is it an advantage or not?

and the same applies to every every tempo you lose, excluding zugzwang.

make every move count, never miss a beat.

I think I read somewhere that the game of checkers has been solved. I do not remember if it always results in a draw or whether one of the sides always wins. I will do a quick google search.

In checkers, I think Black moves first.