The reason chess pieces are white and black is...

Most likely because the materials used was most common in the region where chess got its roots from. Also where the opponent has the same pieces as you; the contrast of colors make it easier to not be mistaken. Maybe the ruler who ordered the game's favorite color was 1.)white 2.) black. That would explain why white gets to go first. Maybe white goes first because the puzzle creator asked which color his ruler wanted to be and the ruler choose white. Let me know what you guys think because that's the only reasons I can think of at the moment. Thanks and like always, have a nice day!

Hard to say what colours were used? This was not standard, as game evolved pieces were made from ivory, bone, pottery, rock, etc. Red and white was common in 18th century. Wood seems the fave material now (I've two nice tournament sets.... boxwood and rosewood & boxwood and ebony)

White going first wasn't established until the late 19th century. Before then the player who moved first could choose colour. It may be that most players favoured black so the idea was that if you use the favoured black pieces you go second to 'counteract' that.

But then why a player might favour black pieces is itself unclear. I speculate with no evidence that it's because black pieces are a little harder to tell apart, I've certainly experienced that with poor chess sets and remember the Staunton pieces weren't invented until the late 19th C. So you want your own pieces black (you know what they are!) and the opposing pieces white to be more recognisable. That speculation would agree with black going first in draughts and go, where all the pieces are the same.

Since chess was invented in Asia, and most Asian countries view white to be an inferior colour, the white player gets to move first to compensate for the bad colour.