I often hear players say how much they cannot stand playing black in chess. I ask myself why this is that they feel this way and usually it is because they do not get to go first.
Well if that is your reason for not liking to play black than let me tell you a few good reasons why playing black can actually be to your advantage instead.
So many players think that going first is always the best. Well one thing I have learned not only in life but in chess is that allowing your opponent to commit before you move allows you to counter attack your opponent rather than always be on the defensive. How you ask me, well simple really, unless your playing against a real novice they will be preparing their strategies several moves ahead as well. THINK as if you were playing the white side and what you would do if you were them and try to counter their strategy with your own version that you adapt as they do to stay one step ahead.
It is real annoying to white when their strategies are foiled and you cannot seem to penetrate black’s defense and even worse if they start taking your pieces especially a Knight or Bishop just by trying to stay one step or more ahead of your white opponents pieces by putting your self as if you were playing the whole game yourself.
It is all in your mind and in being able to learn to counter properly an offensive move, or was it an offensive move or an attempt to set up a defensive front? Though each player plays different you need to determine quickly what their game play is if you want to counter it. See if they move first with their pawns or with a Knight. That can tell you often if they plan to star off real offensive or not. Most will start with a pawn to allow movement of other pieces they plan to move. It is your job playing black to stop those open areas from being used against you while you at the same time set them up to take and capture their pieces.
It can be a real fast game sometimes if your opponent is real aggressive or it can take a long time if they are well disciplined and there is no time limit or they use the max time each move.
Use that time to study what you would do if you were them especially once you begin to learn their pattern of game play. That is when you can truly wreck havoc to a white opponent in chess. Learning to play black offensively can be difficult buy hardly impossible. You just have to play smart of course and stay ahead of your opponents moves to set them up before they do. That first move can be considered a commitment on their end allowing you to choose how you wish to respond to it, and that is how and where you start taking advantage of it by denying them what they want.
Try this out some time and feel free to leave a comment on how this worked out for you.
