White 16 vs Black 847
White starts from setup 16 (BBNQNRKR), Black from setup 847 (RKNRQNBB). In the encyclopedia since 2026-11-01: 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. 16, Black by position No. 847, 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 #16 B B N Q N R K R
King on the g-file, rooks on f, h, queen on the d-file; one bishop starts in a corner; the knights start on central files. The king already stands on a castled square, so one of the castlings moves only the rook. In ordinary symmetric play setup 16 gives White +0.30 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #847 R K N R Q N B B
King on the b-file, rooks on a, d, queen on the e-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 847 gives White +0.30 (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 59.
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 -30 and +18 cp before settling — a reminder that quick engine checks overstate imbalances, and why the ladder goes deep.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 16 gives White +0.30 and setup 847 gives White +0.30: with both sides on the same rank the first move is worth something. In this pair Black's own setup absorbs that edge completely.
The engine's first choice for White is e4; the alternatives are slightly weaker but keep the game level.
Along the engine's main line (30 moves) the largest swing was 37 cp (around move 9), ending at 0 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 | 16 | +18 | 1. b3 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Qc2 e5 4. bxc4 f6 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 18 | -3 | 1. b3 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Qc2 e5 4. Nf3 g5 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 24 | -30 | 1. b3 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Qc2 e5 4. Nf3 g5 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 28 | -5 | 1. b3 d5 2. f4 f6 3. Nf3 Nd6 4. Re1 h6 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 34 | -2 | 1. b3 d5 2. f4 f6 3. Nf3 Nd6 4. Re1 a5 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 39 | +11 | 1. b3 d5 2. f4 f6 3. Nf3 a5 4. Re1 Nd6 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 50 | 0 | 1. e4 g6 2. d4 f5 3. exf5 gxf5 4. b3 a5 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 51 | 0 | 1. e4 g6 2. d4 f5 3. exf5 gxf5 4. b3 a5 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 59 | 0 | 1. e4 g6 2. d4 f5 3. exf5 gxf5 4. b3 a5 |
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: +13
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 +99, Black +129, difference -30. 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 | +14 | 40 | 1. e4 g6 2. d4 f5 3. exf5 gxf5 4. b3 a5 5. c4 a4 |
| 2 | 0 | 40 | 1. b3 d5 2. f4 f6 3. Nf3 Nd6 4. Re1 g5 5. fxg5 e5 |
| 3 | -21 | 40 | 1. c4 g6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Qxe5 4. Nf3 Qd6 5. Bd3 f5 |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 37 cp, mean 18.5 cp, final 0 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | b3 | -13 | d5 | -6 |
| 2 | f4 | -13 | f6 | -22 |
| 3 | Nf3 | -3 | a5 | -12 |
| 4 | Re1 | +10 | Nd6 | -19 |
| 5 | O-O | -12 | Ra6 | -11 |
| 6 | d4 | -21 | g5 | -11 |
| 7 | e3 | -34 | gxf4 | -32 |
| 8 | exf4 | -28 | f5 | -32 |
| 9 | Ne2 | -37 | Ne4 | -32 |
| 10 | Ne5 | -33 | Ng6 | -32 |
| 11 | c3 | -32 | Rf6 | -26 |
| 12 | c4 | -31 | Rf8 | -30 |
| 13 | Bd3 | -23 | Be6 | -28 |
| 14 | Qc2 | -23 | Rg8 | -20 |
| 15 | Rc1 | -21 | Nh4 | -18 |
| 16 | g3 | -17 | Bxe5 | -7 |
| 17 | fxe5 | -3 | dxc4 | -20 |
| 18 | Bxc4 | -12 | Bxc4 | -7 |
| 19 | Qxc4 | -6 | c6 | -21 |
| 20 | Bc3 | -21 | Rd5 | -32 |
| 21 | Be1 | -24 | Ng6 | -26 |
| 22 | b4 | -28 | a4 | -19 |
| 23 | Qc2 | -14 | Qd7 | -26 |
| 24 | Rf3 | -17 | Rb5 | -25 |
| 25 | h3 | -25 | Rb6 | -32 |
| 26 | Kh2 | -36 | Rf8 | -15 |
| 27 | Ra3 | -13 | Ra6 | 0 |
| 28 | g4 | 0 | e6 | 0 |
| 29 | gxf5 | 0 | exf5 | 0 |
| 30 | Rd1 | 0 | Qd5 | 0 |
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 53.5 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. e4 g6 2. d4 a5 3. b3 f5 4. exf5 gxf5 5. c4 a4 6. Bb2 c5 7. Bxf5 d5 8. Qg4 Qf7 9. cxd5 cxd4 10. Nf3 Nd6 11. Bb1 Qxd5 12. Bxd4 h5 13. Qg3 Bxd4 14. Nxd4 Bh7 15. Nce2 Bxb1 16. Rxb1 e5 17. Nf3 Ne4 18. Qxe5+ Qxe5 19. Nxe5 Rd2 20. Nf4 a3 21. Ra1 Nc3 22. g3 Rxa2 23. Kg2 Rxa1 24. Rxa1 Kc7 25. Kf3 Nd7 26. Nxd7 Kxd7 27. Nxh5 Nd5 28. Nf4 Nb4 29. Ne2 Ke7 30. Nc1 Rc8 31. Kg4 Rc3 32. Rxa3 Rxc1 33. Ra5 Rc2 34. Rb5 Nd3 35. Rxb7+ Kd6 36. Kf3 Nxf2 37. h4 Nd3 38. b4 Ne5+ 39. Kf4 Rf2+ 40. Kg5 Rg2 41. Kf4 Rf2+ 42. Ke4 Re2+ 43. Kf5 Rf2+ 44. Ke4
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. b3 d5 2. c4 e5 3. cxd5 Rxd5 4. f4 e4 5. Nc2 f5 6. Ne3 Rc5 7. Bd4 Ra5 8. d3 Nd6 9. Qd2 Ra6 10. Rd1 O-O-O 11. O-O Ne6 12. Be5 Nf7 13. Bb2 Nd4 14. Nc4 g6 15. e3 Nb5 16. Bxh8 Nxh8 17. Qb2 exd3 18. Qxh8 Bxc4 19. Qxe8 Rxe8 20. bxc4 Nc3 21. Nxd3 Nxd1 22. Rxd1 Rxe3 23. Kf2 Re8 24. h3 Ra3 25. g4 Re4 26. gxf5 Rxc4 27. Rg1 c5 28. Rg5 Kc7 29. fxg6 hxg6 30. Rxc5+ Rxc5 31. Nxc5 b6 32. Nd3 b5 33. h4 a5 34. Nc1 Rh3 35. Bxg6 Rxh4 36. Ke3 Rh2 37. Bf7 a4 38. Nd3 Kd6 39. Kd4 Rh1 40. Kc3 Rh2 41. Kd4 Rh1 42. Kc3 Rh3 43. Bg6 Rh2 44. Nb4 Rf2 45. Bd3 Rxf4 46. Bxb5 a3 47. Nd3 Rf1 48. Bc4 Rb1 49. Bb3 Rh1 50. Kb4 Rh8 51. Bc4 Rb8+ 52. Kxa3 Kc6 53. Nb4+ Kb6 54. Nd3 Ka5 55. Nc5 Ra8 56. Bd3 Ra7 57. Nb3+ Kb6+ 58. Kb2 Rd7 59. Bc4 Ra7 60. a3 Kc6 61. Bf1 Kb6 62. Bd3 Ra8 63. Bf5 Ra7 64. Bd3 Ra8 65. Be4 Ra4 66. Nd2 Rd4 67. Kc3 Ra4 68. Nc4+ Kc5 69. Bd3 Ra8 70. Bf1 Ra7 71. Be2 Re7 72. Bf1 Ra7
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 16 / 847 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): rknrqnbb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BBNQNRKR w FHad - 0 1
Mirror twin: White 943 vs Black 112 — a different position (castling squares are fixed), not evaluated by the search.
Current place in the live balance rating: 126.