The Black and White debate: All about Chess
If you are more than familiar with the black and white jungle, you must have heard who is rumoured to be the king of chess.
It is a popular opinion among some chess experts and players that the white player can win all chess matches simply because she is white. What is the cause of such utter discrimination you wonder? In order to shed light over this school of thought, we will
examine why the white player is treated with such royalty.
The basis behind the theory that white is in a winning position is the fact that the player has the first move to make in any chess game. This is called the first move advantage. Where one school of thought maintains that the advantage white has is decisive,
i.e. It translates into a win, others are of the opinion that the advantage does not ensure a win, but it does give some benefit to the white player.
The great chess player, Wilhelm Steinitz was among the pioneers who addressed the issue of the first move advantage in 1889. After him, a large amount of people are of the opinion that the advantage would ensure a draw if a game of chess is perfectly played
by both the players. However, as these are all theories, it cannot be said for sure what would be the result if a game of chess is played perfectly but experts are confident about the fact that being able to make the first move provides the white player with
some sort of advantage.
There has been some research done on this issue since the time the first move advantage started to gain importance in chess. Based on statistics gathered since 1851, it has been shown that the white player wins more often than the black player. The winning
percentage of the white player ranges from 52-56 percent. When we look at chess games between two computers, the winning percentage of white shows similar results.
However, there are those that completely refute the idea the being able to make the first move gives the white player any advantage. This group of people maintain that the advantage is purely psychological. Among the proponents of this view is the name of
the Grandmaster Andras Adorjan. He voiced his opinion by writing several books on the topic of first move advantage of the white player.
Adorjan explained himself in the following words, “In my opinion, the only obvious advantage for White is that if he or she plays for a draw, and does so well, then Black can hardly avoid this without taking obvious risks. The tale of White's advantage is
a delusion, belief in it is based on mass psychosis.”
Others believe that even if the white player has an advantage initially, that advantage no longer stays as the game progresses.
A new school of thought has emerged in the debate of the first move advantage. According to modern chess thinkers, the idea of the white player being in a superior position or a winning position put her under psychological pressure. This pressure of winning
sometimes causes the white player to lose. In contrast to this, the black player is free of such worries and therefore has a psychological advantage over the white player.
There is another school of thought that holds the black player to be in a superior position if the game theory is taken into consideration.
According to the Grandmaster Mihai Suba, a the white player makes the first move, that gives more information to the black player when she has to make her first move, therefore, the black player can make a better decision.
It has not been determined definitively whether the white player has an advantage or not. Such a conclusion can only be reached if the game of chess is able to solve mathematically. But even to attempt such a feat would require technology such as quantum
computing. Until that time, you are free to form your own opinion.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer’s and do not reflect bettor.com’s official editorial policy.
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