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First move advantage in Western Chess - why does it exist?[Subject Thread] [Add Response]

Joe Joyce wrote on Tue, Aug 7, 2012 01:44 AM UTC:

What specific thing or combination of things gives white the first move
advantage? I suspect it is mobility, perhaps slightly amped by a very small
board, and pawn irreversibility, but as near as I can figure on a naive
first pass, it is primarily mobility which gives white its advantage. Is
there any info on this, or any ideas floating around besides "white gets
to pick the direction of the game"? Actually, often enough, white gets to
pick the first move, and then events take over. 

The tempo idea is good - white starts off ahead, and black has to take
risks to keep up, is one interpretation. But often the tempo sort of
disappears more or less on its own, and midgame finds players responding to
previous moves rather than setting directions. Still, if white loses a
tempo, it means white plays catch-up. If black loses a tempo, black may
never catch up, being 2 tempi down. 

When I tried to find some numbers, I couldn't. About the best thing I
found was this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-move_advantage_in_chess
My analysis, such as it was, was primarily based on the differences between
FIDE and Chieftain Chess. And I'm not thrilled with the results. Has
anyone got any better info or ideas?