White 103 vs Black 596
White starts from setup 103 (QNBRNKRB), Black from setup 596 (RBBQNKRN). In the encyclopedia since 2026-10-15: neither side starts better.
|cp| ≤ 5 at 400M · 800M · 1.6B · 4B nodes, two independent engines agree
How to play with different setups
White sets up the pieces by position No. 103, Black by position No. 596, mirrored on their own side; the pawns stand as usual.
Moves as usual: White starts; everything else follows the Chess960 rules.
The two setups
White: setup #103 Q N B R N K R B
King on the f-file, rooks on d, g, queen on the a-file; one bishop starts in a corner; the knights start on central files. Castling follows the Chess960 rule: king and rook end on the classical squares. In ordinary symmetric play setup 103 gives White +0.17 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #596 R B B Q N K R N
King on the f-file, rooks on a, g, queen on the d-file; no bishop starts in a corner; the knights start away from the centre. Castling follows the Chess960 rule: king and rook end on the classical squares. In ordinary symmetric play setup 596 gives White +0.11 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Why the pair is balanced
At the deepest rungs (400M, 800M, 1.6B nodes) the evaluation never left ±1 centipawns of equality, reaching search depth 61.
Admission rule: |cp| ≤ 5 at four budgets up to 4 billion nodes, no one-sided drift along the ladder, and confirmation by two independent engines — Berserk and Lc0 — each below its own median on symmetric positions. The same corridor is required at every deeper budget (8 G, 16 G) at which the pair has been evaluated.
The shallow rungs wandered between -7 and +16 cp before settling — a reminder that quick engine checks overstate imbalances, and why the ladder goes deep.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 103 gives White +0.17 and setup 596 gives White +0.11: with both sides on the same rank the first move is worth something. In this pair Black's own setup absorbs that edge completely.
White is not forced into a single path: the best first move is g3, and 2 first moves are within 10 cp of it.
Along the engine's main line (30 moves) the evaluation stayed within ±12 cp the whole way: the balance holds as the pieces come out, not only on move one.
Engine self-play agrees: 10 games, White won 1, drawn 9, Black won 0 (White scored 55.0%).
Verification ladder
Nine independent searches of the starting position, each with a larger node budget. Evaluation in centipawns from White's point of view.
| Stage | Nodes | Depth | Eval, cp | Main line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S0 | 100 000 | 16 | +16 | 1. c4 c6 2. O-O d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. d4 O-O |
| S1 | 500 000 | 23 | +5 | 1. c4 c6 2. O-O d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. d4 Nf6 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 32 | +6 | 1. c4 c6 2. O-O d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. d4 O-O |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 34 | +11 | 1. c4 c6 2. O-O d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. d4 O-O |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 41 | +8 | 1. c4 c6 2. O-O d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. d4 O-O |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 44 | -7 | 1. c4 c6 2. O-O d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. d4 O-O |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 48 | +1 | 1. c4 c6 2. O-O d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. d4 Ng6 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 54 | 0 | 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 c6 3. d4 a5 4. a4 Ng6 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 61 | 0 | 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 c6 3. d4 a5 4. a4 Ng6 |
Deep verification
The search ladder reaches 1.6 billion nodes; admission needs a 4-billion rung and two further engines on top of that. Beyond even that, every pair was re-checked at budgets up to ten times larger and in thousands of self-play games. This section shows what each check returned for this pair.
| Nodes | Eval, cp |
|---|---|
| 4 000 000 000 | 0 |
| 8 000 000 000 | not checked |
| 16 000 000 000 | not checked |
This pair stays within the ±5 cp corridor up to 4 000 000 000 nodes.
Independent engines, run on the same position:
- Berserk 14: 0
- Lc0 0.32.1: +2
Independent confirmations: 3 of 3. An engine counts as confirming when its reading of the pair is closer to equality than its own reading of a typical symmetric Chess960 position (+10 for Berserk, +18 for Lc0). Where only one engine confirms, the pair is balanced according to that engine alone, and this page says so.
Own weight of each setup, measured against the classical array: White +58, Black +64, difference -6. A balanced pair needs White's setup to be weaker by about the price of the first move.
Extended self-play: 10 games, 1 White wins, 9 draws, 0 Black wins, White scored 55.0%.
Best first moves
The 3 best first moves for White, searched together at 400 000 000 nodes.
| # | Eval, cp | Depth | Main line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | -5 | 43 | 1. g3 |
| 2 | -6 | 43 | 1. c4 d5 2. cxd5 c6 3. O-O cxd5 4. d4 Ng6 5. Nc3 Nf6 |
| 3 | -16 | 42 | 1. d4 d5 2. b3 c6 3. g3 Bh3+ 4. Bg2 Qd7 5. c4 O-O |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 12 cp, mean 3.0 cp, final 0 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | c4 | +5 | c6 | 0 |
| 2 | O-O | +6 | d5 | +6 |
| 3 | cxd5 | +4 | cxd5 | +6 |
| 4 | d4 | +12 | O-O | +7 |
| 5 | Nc3 | +11 | Nf6 | +8 |
| 6 | Qb1 | +1 | h6 | -1 |
| 7 | g3 | 0 | Bh3 | 0 |
| 8 | Bg2 | -1 | Bxg2 | -6 |
| 9 | Nxg2 | 0 | Ng6 | 0 |
| 10 | e4 | 0 | dxe4 | -6 |
| 11 | Nxe4 | -3 | Nd5 | 0 |
| 12 | Ne3 | -4 | Qd7 | -5 |
| 13 | Nc5 | -4 | Qc6 | -8 |
| 14 | Qe4 | 0 | Rd8 | -3 |
| 15 | Nxd5 | -5 | Rxd5 | -11 |
| 16 | Na4 | -8 | f5 | -10 |
| 17 | Qg2 | -8 | Bc7 | -4 |
| 18 | Nc3 | -5 | Rd6 | 0 |
| 19 | d5 | 0 | Qd7 | -1 |
| 20 | Be3 | -8 | f4 | -6 |
| 21 | Bc5 | 0 | Rf6 | -5 |
| 22 | Rfe1 | 0 | Raf8 | 0 |
| 23 | Bd4 | 0 | Nh4 | 0 |
| 24 | Bxf6 | 0 | Rxf6 | 0 |
| 25 | gxh4 | 0 | f3 | 0 |
| 26 | d6 | 0 | fxg2 | 0 |
| 27 | dxc7 | 0 | Qxc7 | 0 |
| 28 | Nd5 | 0 | Qc5 | 0 |
| 29 | Nxf6+ | 0 | exf6 | 0 |
| 30 | Rd7 | 0 | Qb5 | 0 |
Engine self-play
10 games at 500 000 nodes per move: White won 1, drawn 9, Black won 0 — White scored 55.0%. Average length 33.9 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. b3 d5 2. d4 Ng6 3. c4 c6 4. O-O Nf6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Bg5 Ne4 7. Bc1 Nf6 8. Qb2 Re8 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Bg5 Nh5 11. g3 h6 12. Bd2 Nf6 13. Nc2 a6 14. e4 Bg4 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. exd5 Bxd1 17. Rxd1 Nf8 18. Ne3 Nh7 19. d6 Qd7 20. dxe7 Qxe7 21. Qc2 Nf6 22. Bf3 Ba7 23. Nf5 Qd7 24. d5 Rac8 25. Qb1 Re5 26. g4 h5 27. Bf4 Ree8 28. h3 Rc3 29. Kg2 Rxf3 30. Kxf3 hxg4+ 31. hxg4 Ne4 32. Re1 Nc3 33. Rxe8+ Qxe8 34. Qc2 Qe1 35. Ng3 Nxd5 36. Qc8+ Kh7 37. Qf5+ Kg8 38. Qc8+ Kh7 39. Qf5+ Kg8
Sample game 2 (1-0)
1. O-O O-O 2. c4 Ng6 3. Nc3 c6 4. g3 Nf6 5. f4 d5 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. f5 Ne5 8. d4 Nc4 9. Qb1 a6 10. Bg5 Ba7 11. Nc2 Bd7 12. Bxf6 exf6 13. Bxd5 Rc8 14. e4 Re8 15. Kg2 a5 16. a4 Qb6 17. b3 Nd6 18. Rf3 Qa6 19. Na3 Rxc3 20. Rxc3 Qe2+ 21. Kh1 Nxe4 22. Bxe4 Rxe4 23. Qc2 Bxf5 24. Qxe2 Rxe2 25. Nb5 Bb6 26. Nd6 Be6 27. Nc4 Ba7 28. Nxa5 Kf8 29. Kg1 Re4 30. Rcd3 Bg4 31. R1d2 Be2 32. Rxe2 Rxe2 33. Nxb7 Ke7 34. Kf1 Rxh2 35. d5 Kd7 36. d6 h5 37. Rc3 Rh1+ 38. Kg2 Rg1+ 39. Kh2 Rd1 40. Rc7+ Ke6 41. Re7+ Kf5 42. d7 Rd2+ 43. Kh1 Bb6 44. a5 Bc7 45. b4 Kg4 46. d8=Q Bxd8 47. Nxd8 g5 48. Nc6 Kh3 49. Re1 g4 50. a6 Ra2 51. b5 Kxg3 52. Rg1+ Kh3 53. Rb1 Rh2+ 54. Kg1 Rg2+ 55. Kf1 g3 56. Nd4 Kh2 57. Nf3+ Kh3 58. a7 Rf2+ 59. Ke1 Ra2 60. b6 Kg4 61. Ng1 Kf5 62. b7 Rxa7 63. b8=Q Ra1 64. Rxa1 g2 65. Ra5+ Kg6 66. Qg8+
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 103 / 596 in the app's encyclopedia, then choose how to play.
- Local game — two players on one device, with a clock.
- With a mentor — a clearly labelled training bot with hints, at your level.
- Challenge a friend — an online game by link; both players get the same pair, colours swap on rematch.
Play this pair against the computer, right here Play a friend
FEN (Shredder, castling rights by rook files): rbbqnkrn/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/QNBRNKRB w DGag - 0 1
Mirror twin: White 850 vs Black 270 — a different position (castling squares are fixed), not evaluated by the search.
Current place in the live balance rating: 423.