Since 1988 , chess theorists have challenged previously well @-@ established views about White 's advantage . Grandmaster ( GM ) András Adorján wrote a series of books on the theme that " Black is OK ! " , arguing that the general perception that White have an advantage is founded more in psychology than reality . GM Mihai Suba and others contend that sometimes White 's initiative disappear for no apparent reason as a game progress . The prevalent style of play for Black today is to seek dynamic , unbalanced positions with active counterplay , rather than merely trying to equalize .