[math-fun] Chess questions
Someone told me recently that the traditional estimate of the size of [any advantage that White may have over Black] has decreased of late. He even suggested that some think *Black* has an advantage. Googling suggested the answers might be findable only with a lot more research, so I'm just asking y'all. 1. Does anyone know about this? What are the White/Black win/loss percentages when a top chess engine like AlphaZero plays itself? His point was that recent computer games have altered prior perceptions. 2. I also wonder what the latest belief is on whether either player has a winning advantage with optimal play, or whether optimal playon both sides can lead only to draws. Likewise, statistics from top chess engine self-play might be revealing. —Dan
DA: "Someone told me recently that the traditional estimate of the size of [any advantage that White may have over Black] has decreased of late. He even suggested that some think *Black* has an advantage." Wikipedia's article here < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-move_advantage_in_chess > is fairly comprehensive, including mention even of Andras Adorjan's "Black is OK" line of thinking. I don't see any "black is better" books on the horizon.
participants (2)
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Dan Asimov -
Hans Havermann