White moves first - and that choice decides what kind of game it will be. Gathered here are the openings played with White: the open games after 1.e4, the closed ones after 1.d4, and the flank starts 1.c4 and 1.Nf3. Every opening comes with a walkthrough on the board, move by move.
The first move is White's only advantage, and it lies not in the extra tempo as such but in the right to set the theme. Until White has moved, the opponent does not know whether it will be an open fight with early exchanges in the centre or a slow positional squeeze. Black answers all game; White proposes.
Hence a practical consequence: with White it is enough to learn one first move and three or four schemes behind it. You do not have to prepare against everything in existence - you need to know what you are doing against the most common replies. A repertoire with White is almost always more compact than one with Black.
White's edge is objectively small: the statistics of the large databases give them around 52-55% of the points. That is not a win but the right to impose a comfortable position first - and it is exactly the sort of margin that preparation can turn into a result.
Three workable starts for different temperaments. Take one and play it for at least a month - that does more good than knowing five of them superficially.
The Italian Game after 1.e4 e5: the pieces develop to natural squares, the plans make sense, and the typical tactical blows turn up in every other game. The second option is the London System: one scheme against almost anything Black plays.
1.e4 leads to open positions, early exchanges and direct play on the king - tactical experience builds faster there. 1.d4 gives closed positions with long manoeuvring. Beginners are usually advised to play 1.e4, but there is no fundamental difference in the strength of the moves.
One first move and three or four schemes behind it is enough up to the level of a confident amateur. You widen the repertoire when a particular reply from your opponents starts causing trouble regularly.
No. By the statistics of the large databases White scores around 52-55% - a small advantage, not a decisive one. It only means the right to choose the character of the fight first.
At amateur level it is more useful to understand the ideas: where the pieces go, where the pawn breaks are and what the plan is in the middlegame. Memorised lines run out on move five or six, and the game has to be played beyond that.
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