First-move advantage in chess

Since 1851, compiled statistics support this view; White consistently wins slightly more often than Black, usually scoring between 52 and 56 percent. As of January 12, 2015, White had won 37. 50%, 34. 90% were drawn, and Black had won 27. 60% out of 739,769 games, resulting in a total White winning percentage of 54. 95%.

About First-move advantage in chess in brief

Since 1851, compiled statistics support this view; White consistently wins slightly more often than Black, usually scoring between 52 and 56 percent. White’s winning percentage is about the same for tournament games between humans and games between computers. Chess is not a solved game, and it is considered unlikely that the game will be solved in the foreseeable future. Some players, including world champions such as José Raúl Capablanca, Emanuel Lasker, and Bobby Fischer, have expressed fears of a \”draw death\” as chess becomes more deeply analyzed. The prevalent style of play for Black today is to seek unbalanced, dynamic positions with active counterplay, rather than merely trying to equalize. Some writers have challenged the view that White has an inherent advantage. The consensus that White should try to win can be a psychological burden for the white player, who sometimes loses by trying too hard to win. Some symmetrical openings can lead to situations where moving first is a detriment, for either psychological or objective reasons. The main reason that 1. e4 was less effective than 1. d4 was the Sicilian Defence, which only a 52% score in 145,996 games played between 1994 and 2001, concluded Jeff Sonas.

He gave White’s advantage as +390,460 if it is better than +460,460 or worse than it is worse than White’s rating, giving it 54 1767 plus 01164 times White’s advantage. As of January 12, 2015, White had won 37. 50%, 34. 90% were drawn, and Black had won 27. 60% out of 739,769 games, resulting in a total White winning percentage of 54. 95%. White scored 54. 8% in its 2000 Yearbook that of 731, games in its database, with the two most popular opening, 1, e4, 1% in 349,855 moves, and 56. 1% overall with the 2, e1, 1%, 1, d1, d2, d3, d4, e3, e5, e6, e7, e8, e9, ef1, f1, e2, f2, b1, b3, b4, b5, b6, b7, b8, b9, bf1 and bf2, which gives White a 54. 4% winning percentage. In 2005, GM Jonathan Rowson wrote that White begins the game with a small advantage and, holding all other factors constant, scores approximately 56% to Black’s 44%\”. In 1998, International Master John Watson wrote in 1998 that White had scored 56% for most of the 20th century, but that this figure had recently slipped to 55%. The website Chessgames. com holds regularly updated statistics on its games database, as of January 2012,  White had won 60% of 738,000 games, with Black winning 27. 50% of the games.

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