White and Black in chess

Chess convention for first and second player

In this chess set, the white pieces are tan in color.

In chess, the player who moves first is called White and the player who moves second is called Black. Their pieces are the white pieces and the black pieces. The pieces are often not literally white and black, but usually contrasting light and dark colors. The 64 squares of the chessboard, which is colored in a checkered pattern, are likewise the "white squares" or "light squares", and "black squares" or "dark squares"; they are usually of contrasting light and dark color rather than literally white and black. For example, the squares on vinyl boards may be off-white ("buff") and green, while those on wood boards are often light brown and dark brown.[1]

> white: 1. There are 16 light-colored pieces and 32 squares called white. 2. When capitalized, the word refers to the player of the white pieces.

An entry in the Glossary of terms in the Laws of Chess at the end of the current FIDE laws[2] appears for black, too.

In old chess writings, the sides are often called Red and Black, because those were the two colors of ink then commonly available when hand-drawing or printing chess position diagrams.

## History

[edit]

This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

As Howard Staunton observed, "In the earlier ages of chess, the board was simply divided into sixty-four squares, without any difference of colour".[3] The checkering of the squares was a European innovation, introduced in the thirteenth century.[4]

The convention of White having the first move is much more recent than that. François-André Danican Philidor in the original (1749) edition of his famous treatise Analyse du jeu des Échecs cited one game in which Black moved first.[5] Johann Horny, in a book published in Germany in 1824, wrote that Black moves first.[6] Phillip Sergeant wrote in his book A History of British Chess of the great Alexander McDonnell (1798–1835), remembered today for his series of matches with Labourdonnais:[7]

> He preferred to have Black, as first player as well as second ... this was a common fad in his day, which persisted with a great number of players, as a study of the Chess Players' Chronicle and other magazines shows.

Some sources[8] report that in the Immortal Game (Anderssen–Kieseritzky, offhand game, London 1851), one of the most famous games in history, Anderssen had the Black pieces but moved first.[9] He also took the Black pieces but moved first in the sixth, eighth, and tenth games of his famous 1858 match against Paul Morphy. Each of those games began 1.a3 e5 2.c4, when Anderssen was effectively playing the Sicilian Defense with an extra tempo.[10]

As late as the mid-to-late 19th century, the practice of White moving first had not yet become standard. George Walker in his popular treatise The Art of Chess-Play: A New Treatise on the Game of Chess (4th edition 1846), set forth the rules of London's St George's Chess Club in June, 1841.[11] "Law III" provided that the player who moved first had the choice of color; if the players played more games at the same sitting, the first move would alternate, but each player would continue to use the same colored pieces as he had in the first game.[12] Staunton observed in 1871 that "many players still cultivate the foolish habit of playing exclusively with one colour."[13]

On October 19, 1857, Mr. Perrin, the Secretary of the New York Chess Club, informed those assembled at the First American Chess Congress that he had received a letter from Johann Löwenthal, a leading English master, "suggesting the advisableness of always giving the first move in public games, to the player of the white pieces".[14] Löwenthal also wrote that London's chess clubs had adopted a new rule that White always moves first.[15] The club evidently did not follow Löwenthal's advice, since in its match the following year against its Philadelphia counterpart, Philadelphia played White in both games, but moved first only in the second game.[16]

Chess historian Robert John McCrary writes that the earliest rule he has found requiring that White move first is Rule 9 given on page 126 of the New York, 1880 tournament book, which specified, "In each round the players shall have the first move alternately; in the first game it shall be determined by lot. The one having the move, in every case, is to play with the white pieces." McCrary observes:[17]

> Prior to that, it had gradually become conventional, over a number of years, to have White move first in published analysis, and by about 1862 to have White move first in all published games. But it was evident that players could in many cases choose Black when they had the first move, even if the published game-score indicated that White had moved first.

Three years after the example cited by McCrary, the "Revised International Chess Code" issued at the London 1883 tournament (one of the strongest in history)[18] provided that the player who won by lot the right to move first had the choice of color.[19]

In 1889, Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World Champion, wrote that "In all international and public Chess matches and tournaments ... it is the rule for the first player to have the white men".[20] Emanuel Lasker, the second World Champion, stated in Lasker's Manual of Chess (first published in 1927)[21] that "White makes the first move".[22]

## First-move advantage

[edit]

Main article: First-move advantage in chess

There has been a debate among chess players since at least the 18th century about whether playing first gives White a significant advantage. Statistical analysis shows that White scores between 52 and 56 percent at most levels of play, with White's margin increasing as the standard of play improves.[23]

## See also

[edit]

* Chess portal

* Chess equipment
* Rules of chess

## References

[edit]

1. ^ FIDE regulations, C. 02. 3. 1, Chess Boards – material and colour
2. ^ "FIDE Laws of Chess", rules.fide.com, 1 January 2018.
3. ^ Howard Staunton, The Chess-Player's Handbook, Henry C. Bohn, 1847, p. 1.
4. ^ Henry A. Davidson, A Short History of Chess, David McKay, 1981, p. 144. ISBN 0-679-14550-8.
5. ^ François-André Danican Philidor, Analysis of the Game of Chess (1749 and 1777, reprinted 2005), Hardinge Simpole, p. 32. ISBN 1-84382-161-3.
6. ^ Andy Soltis, Chess to Enjoy, Stein and Day, 1978, p. 86. ISBN 0-8128-6059-4.
7. ^ Phillip W. Sergeant, A History of British Chess, David McKay, 1934, pp. 39–40.
8. ^ Winter, Edward. "The Immortal Game (Anderssen v Kieseritzky)". www.chesshistory.com. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
9. ^ Kling and Horwitz: The Chess Player, July 1851
10. ^ Howard Staunton, Chess Praxis. A Supplement to The Chess Player's Handbook, London, Bell & Daldy, 1871, pp. 492, 495, 497.
11. ^ George Walker, The Art of Chess-Play: A New Treatise on the Game of Chess (4th ed. 1846), Sherwood, Gilbert, & Piper, p. 16.
12. ^ Walker, p. 18.
13. ^ Howard Staunton, Chess Praxis. A Supplement to The Chess Player's Handbook, London, Bell & Daldy, 1871, p. 26.
14. ^ David Lawson, Paul Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of Chess, p. 65, David McKay, 1976. ISBN 0-679-13044-6.
15. ^ Edward Winter, Chess Note 5454, citing Martin Frère Hillyer, Thomas Frère and the Brotherhood of Chess, Jefferson, 2007, p. 38. Retrieved on 2013-08-26.
16. ^ Neil Brennen, "New York vs. Philadelphia: The 1858 Telegraph Match", Chess Life, June 2008, p. 38.
17. ^ Edward Winter, Chess Note 5447. Retrieved on 2013-08-26.
18. ^ According to Chessmetrics, London 1883 was the second strongest tournament played between 1840 and 1900, and included the world's seven best players at that time.
19. ^ Rule 2 of the Code provided that, "Before the beginning of the first game the first move and choice of colour are determined by lot. The first move changes alternately in match play." J.I. Minchin, The Games played in the London International Chess Tournament 1883, 1883 (reprinted 1973 by British Chess Magazine), p. xiv.
20. ^ Wilhelm Steinitz, The Modern Chess Instructor (1889, reprinted 1990), Edition Olms AG, Zürich, p. xii. ISBN 3-283-00111-1.
21. ^ David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld, The Oxford Companion to Chess (2nd ed. 1992), Oxford University Press, p. 219. ISBN 0-19-866164-9.
22. ^ Emanuel Lasker, Lasker's Manual of Chess, Dover, 1960, p. 12.
23. ^ "CCRL Blitz - Index". www.computerchess.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-12-22.

* v
* t
* e

Chess

Outline|

* Chess theory
* Chess titles
* Grandmaster
* Computer chess
* glossary
* matches
* engines
* software
* Correspondence chess
* FIDE
* Glossary
* Online chess
* Premove
* Internet chess server
* list
* Rating system
* world rankings
* norms
* Variants
* List
* World records

Equipment|

* Chess set
* chessboard
* Dubrovnik chess set
* Staunton chess set
* Chess pieces
* King
* Queen
* Rook
* Bishop
* Knight
* Pawn
* Fairy
* Chess clock
* Chess table
* Score sheets

History|

* Timeline
* Versus de scachis
* Göttingen manuscript
* Charlemagne chessmen
* Lewis chessmen
* Romantic chess
* Hypermodernism
* Soviet chess school
* Top player comparison
* Geography of chess
* Africa
* South Africa
* China
* Europe
* Armenia
* Spain
* India
* Notable games
* List of chess players
* amateurs
* female
* grandmasters
* Women in chess
* Transgender people in chess
* Chess museums
* Bobby Fischer Center
* Gökyay Association Chess Museum
* World Chess Hall of Fame

Rules|

* Castling
* Cheating in chess
* Check
* Checkmate
* Draw
* by agreement
* Fifty-move rule
* Perpetual check
* Stalemate
* Threefold repetition
* En passant
* Pawn promotion
* Time control
* Fast chess
* Touch-move rule
* White and Black

Terms|

* Blunder
* Chess notation
* algebraic
* descriptive
* PGN
* annotation symbols
* symbols in Unicode
* Fianchetto
* Gambit
* Key square
* King walk
* Open file
* Half-open file
* Outpost
* Pawns
* backward
* connected
* doubled
* isolated
* passed
* Swindle
* Tempo
* Transposition
* Trap

Tactics|

* Artificial castling
* Battery
* Alekhine's gun
* Block
* Checkmate patterns
* Combination
* Decoy
* Deflection
* Desperado
* Discovered attack
* Double check
* Fork
* Interference
* Overloading
* Pawn storm
* Pin
* Sacrifice
* Queen sacrifice
* Skewer
* Undermining
* Windmill
* X-ray
* Zwischenzug

Strategy|

* Compensation
* Exchange
* the exchange
* Initiative
* first-move advantage
* Middlegame
* Pawn structure
* Hedgehog
* Isolated Queen's Pawn
* Maróczy Bind
* Minority attack
* Piece values
* Prophylaxis
* School of chess

Openings|

| Flank opening|

* Benko Opening
* Bird's Opening
* Dunst Opening
* English Opening
* Grob's Attack
* Larsen's Opening
* Zukertort Opening
* King's Indian Attack
* Réti Opening

|

King's Pawn Game|

* Alekhine's Defence
* Caro–Kann Defence
* French Defence
* Modern Defence
* Nimzowitsch Defence
* Open Game
* Four Knights Game
* Giuoco Piano
* Italian Game
* King's Gambit
* Petrov's Defence
* Philidor Defence
* Ponziani Opening
* Ruy Lopez
* Semi-Italian Opening
* Scotch Game
* Two Knights Defense
* Vienna Game
* Owen's Defence
* Pirc Defence
* Austrian Attack
* Scandinavian Defense
* Sicilian Defence
* Alapin
* Dragon/Accelerated Dragon
* Najdorf
* Scheveningen

Queen's Pawn Game|

* Budapest Gambit
* Colle System
* Dutch Defence
* English Defence
* Indian Defence
* Benoni Defence
* Modern Benoni
* Bogo-Indian Defence
* Catalan Opening
* Grünfeld Defence
* King's Indian Defence
* Nimzo-Indian Defence
* Old Indian Defense
* Queen's Indian Defence
* London System
* Richter–Veresov Attack
* Queen's Gambit
* Accepted
* Declined
* Slav Defence
* Semi-Slav Defence
* Chigorin Defense
* Torre Attack
* Trompowsky Attack

Other|

* List of openings
* theory table
* List of chess gambits
* Irregular
* Bongcloud Attack
* Fool's mate
* Scholar's mate

Endgames|

* Bishop and knight checkmate
* King and pawn vs. king
* Opposite-coloured bishops
* Pawnless endgame
* Queen and pawn vs. queen
* Queen vs. pawn
* Queen vs. rook
* Rook and bishop vs. rook
* Rook and pawn vs. rook
* Lucena position
* Philidor position
* Strategy
* fortress
* opposition
* Tarrasch rule
* triangulation
* Zugzwang
* Study
* Tablebase
* Two knights endgame
* Wrong bishop
* Wrong rook pawn

Tournaments|

* List of strong chess tournaments
* Chess Olympiad
* Women
* World Chess Championship
* List
* Candidates Tournament
* Chess World Cup
* FIDE Grand Prix
* Other world championships
* Women
* Team
* Rapid
* Blitz
* Junior
* Youth
* Senior
* Amateur
* Chess composition
* Solving
* Computer chess championships
* CCC
* CSVN
* North American
* TCEC
* WCCC
* WCSCC

Art and media|

* Caïssa
* Chess aesthetics
* Chess in the arts
* early literature
* film
* novels
* paintings
* poetry
* short stories
* Chess books
* opening books
* endgame literature
* Oxford Companion
* Chess libraries
* Chess newspaper columns
* Chess periodicals

Related|

* Arbiter
* Chess boxing
* Chess club
* Chess composer
* Chess engine
* AlphaZero
* Deep Blue
* Leela Chess Zero
* Stockfish
* Chess problem
* glossary
* joke chess
* Chess prodigy
* Elo rating system
* Simultaneous exhibition
* Tie-breaking in Swiss-system tournaments
* Solving chess

* Chess portal
* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template