Every chess fan knows that the player with the white pieces holds a small but potentially decisive advantage by making the first move. The rule that white plays first dates to the mid-19th century, and according to a new academic study, it is time for a change.
A forthcoming paper entitled Fairer Chess proposes a shake-up of the game’s rules “to eliminate the unfair advantage enjoyed by players using the white pieces”.
The proposals appear certain to provoke spirited debate over the need for any change at all to chess, which has soared in popularity during pandemic lockdowns and in the wake of the award-winning Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, starring Anya Taylor-Joy as a chess prodigy. Players who have seen a summary of
