Surrendering initiative?
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The thing is... black has to have at least some choice! So yes, you need to prepare against any opening response to black, no matter which opening you use, even though playing as white gives you a little more control over black response's and the opening in general, but black still dictates part of the opening.
Initiative and choice of opening are entirely different things. While black does have options in responding to your opening move, he has to respond with something that is appropriate, given your move. After that, you have a choice. You don't have to play by his plan. Chess is a big fight for who gets to make the decisions. Usually, the player to win that fight wins the game.
Hi, I'm fairly new to chess and this is my first post here...I wonder if you guys could comment on something that;s been puzzling recently?
I'm just learning the game and as per most people's instructions, I'm opening white with 1. e4. My problem is that this seems to surrender the initative to black when it comes to dictating the course of the opening. Let's say I want to pay a Giuoco Piano or Ruy Lopez...I push my pawn, and all black has to do is say 'no thankyou', and he can play a French, Sicilian, Caro Kann, or whatever. Now, I'm playing HIS game, and not mine.
Am I right in thinking that this is a problem? What do you do when you are white...do you let black decide what opening is going to be played and make sure you have an answer to it? It just seems to me that black has the initiative in this case.
Anyway, any comments are appreciated. Looking forward to seeing what you all think.
Cheers,
Baz.