White 107 vs Black 59
White starts from setup 107 (QNRNBKRB), Black from setup 59 (NNRQBKRB). In the encyclopedia since 2026-10-21: 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. 107, Black by position No. 59, 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 #107 Q N R N B K R B
King on the f-file, rooks on c, 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 107 gives White +0.31 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #59 N N R Q B K R B
King on the f-file, rooks on c, g, queen on the d-file; one 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 59 gives White +0.25 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Why the pair is balanced
At the deepest rungs (400M, 800M, 1.6B nodes) the evaluation is exactly 0.00 each time, reaching search depth 55.
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 0 and +27 cp before settling — a reminder that quick engine checks overstate imbalances, and why the ladder goes deep.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 107 gives White +0.31 and setup 59 gives White +0.25: 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 largest swing was 52 cp (around move 18), ending at +5 cp — the position stays playable for both sides.
Engine self-play agrees: 10 games, White won 0, drawn 10, Black won 0 (White scored 50.0%).
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 | 13 | 0 | 1. c4 c6 2. g4 Nc7 3. Nbc3 g6 4. Ne3 O-O |
| S1 | 500 000 | 18 | +2 | 1. g3 c6 2. c4 O-O 3. Ne3 g6 4. d3 Nc7 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 23 | +9 | 1. g3 d5 2. c4 Bc6 3. cxd5 Bxd5 4. Bxd5 Qxd5 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 28 | +27 | 1. c4 c6 2. g3 O-O 3. d3 d6 4. Bc3 Nd7 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 32 | 0 | 1. c4 c5 2. g4 Nc6 3. Nbc3 g6 4. Qb1 Nb6 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 39 | +10 | 1. g3 d5 2. d3 Nb6 3. c4 g6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 46 | 0 | 1. c4 c5 2. g4 Nc6 3. Nbc3 g6 4. f4 Nb6 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 55 | 0 | 1. g3 d5 2. d3 c5 3. c4 dxc4 4. dxc4 Bc6 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 55 | 0 | 1. g3 d5 2. d3 Nb6 3. c4 dxc4 4. Bxb7 cxd3 |
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: +5
- Lc0 0.32.1: +15
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 +26, Black +38, difference -12. A balanced pair needs White's setup to be weaker by about the price of the first move.
Extended self-play: 10 games, 0 White wins, 10 draws, 0 Black wins, White scored 50.0%.
Best first moves
The 3 best first moves for White, searched together at 400 000 000 nodes.
| # | Eval, cp | Depth | Main line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 41 | 1. g3 d5 2. d3 Nb6 3. c4 Bc6 4. c5 N6d7 5. b4 g6 |
| 2 | -4 | 41 | 1. c4 c5 2. g4 Nc6 3. Nbc3 g6 4. f4 Nc7 5. Qb1 d6 |
| 3 | -17 | 40 | 1. d3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Ne3 e6 4. g4 d6 5. Bc3 Nc7 |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 52 cp, mean 22.8 cp, final +5 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | c4 | +17 | c6 | +18 |
| 2 | b3 | +24 | d5 | +23 |
| 3 | d4 | +20 | Nb6 | +18 |
| 4 | Na3 | +30 | g5 | +31 |
| 5 | Bc3 | +34 | f5 | +32 |
| 6 | g3 | +25 | Bh5 | +18 |
| 7 | Nb2 | +14 | dxc4 | +7 |
| 8 | Nbxc4 | +15 | Nd5 | 0 |
| 9 | Bb2 | -1 | Qd7 | +5 |
| 10 | Qb1 | +16 | Qe6 | +26 |
| 11 | Qd3 | +31 | Na6 | +24 |
| 12 | Nc2 | +18 | Bg6 | +20 |
| 13 | O-O | +30 | O-O-O | +39 |
| 14 | Qd2 | +31 | Bf6 | +37 |
| 15 | Rfe1 | +31 | h5 | +39 |
| 16 | b4 | +33 | h4 | +50 |
| 17 | a4 | +39 | hxg3 | +45 |
| 18 | fxg3 | +45 | Nac7 | +52 |
| 19 | e3 | +48 | Kb8 | +23 |
| 20 | b5 | +17 | cxb5 | +11 |
| 21 | Na5 | +22 | b6 | +21 |
| 22 | Nb4 | +37 | Nxb4 | +24 |
| 23 | Qxb4 | +29 | bxa5 | +22 |
| 24 | Qxa5 | +16 | Qb6 | +16 |
| 25 | Qd2 | +12 | Bf7 | +12 |
| 26 | Bc3 | +11 | Nd5 | +13 |
| 27 | Ba5 | +19 | Qd6 | +15 |
| 28 | Rc5 | +19 | Rc8 | +20 |
| 29 | Rxb5+ | +9 | Ka8 | +9 |
| 30 | g4 | 0 | fxg4 | +5 |
Engine self-play
10 games at 500 000 nodes per move: White won 0, drawn 10, Black won 0 — White scored 50.0%. Average length 35.4 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. d3 d5 2. g3 Nb6 3. c4 dxc4 4. dxc4 Bc6 5. b3 Qd7 6. O-O Bxh1 7. Kxh1 Qe6 8. Ne3 O-O-O 9. Bc3 Nc6 10. Rcd1 Nd7 11. Nd2 g5 12. Bxh8 Rxh8 13. Nf3 Qe4 14. Kg1 g4 15. Nd4 Nde5 16. Nxc6 Nxc6 17. Qg7 Ne5 18. Rd5 f6 19. Rfd1 Rhg8 20. Qh6 c6 21. Rxd8+ Rxd8 22. Rxd8+ Kxd8 23. Qf8+ Kd7 24. Qa8 Qb1+ 25. Kg2 Qe4+ 26. Kg1 Qb1+ 27. Kg2 Qe4+
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. g3 d5 2. O-O c5 3. c4 Bc6 4. d4 dxc4 5. dxc5 Bxh1 6. Kxh1 Qd5+ 7. Kg1 Qxc5 8. Ne3 Qh5 9. Bc3 Nc7 10. Na3 O-O 11. Naxc4 Nb5 12. g4 Qg5 13. f4 Qg6 14. Be5 Nc6 15. b3 Rfd8 16. Rcd1 Qe4 17. Nf5 Rxd1 18. Rxd1 Qxe2 19. h3 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 Kf8 21. Rd7 Re8 22. Qf1 Qxf1+ 23. Kxf1 g6 24. Rxb7 Bxe5 25. fxe5 Nc3 26. Nd4 Rd8 27. Nc6 Rd1+ 28. Kf2 Rd2+ 29. Ke3 Rxa2 30. Kd4 Ne2+ 31. Ke4 Nc3+ 32. Kd4 Ne2+ 33. Ke3 Nc3
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 107 / 59 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): nnrqbkrb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/QNRNBKRB w CGcg - 0 1
Mirror twin: White 849 vs Black 897 — a different position (castling squares are fixed), not evaluated by the search.
Current place in the live balance rating: 430.