Quote:
Originally Posted by Melkerson
Here's a silly question that I spent some time thinking about the other day. Let's say you have two equal strength GMs playing a game, but white's first move must be h3. Who is the favorite in this game?
What happens if we change it to two 1600 players?
What happens if we say the first white move must be a3 instead of h3?
Both of these are equivalent to "What if black's h7(a7) pawn started on h6(a6)?"
I prefer to look at it this way, since we are so used to white starting with an advantage in practical play, it's easy to be biased.
I think the pawn on a6 improves black's chances, since it's such a common move in many defenses, and to be given that as a free tempo has to help. Someone once said the Ruy Lopez is so strong black should start with a pawn on a6. But does it swing the advantage to black? I doubt it.
Starting with a pawn on h6 might be worse than having on h7, since many defenses rely on kingside castling, and white may be able to steer into lines where this is a serious weakness.