White 193 vs Black 113
White starts from setup 193 (BQNBRKNR), Black from setup 113 (BNQBRNKR). In the encyclopedia since 2026-10-03: 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. 193, Black by position No. 113, 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 #193 B Q N B R K N R
King on the f-file, rooks on e, h, queen on the b-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 193 gives White +0.46 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #113 B N Q B R N K R
King on the g-file, rooks on e, h, queen on the c-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 113 gives White +0.39 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Why the pair is balanced
At the deepest rungs (400M, 800M, 1.6B, 3.2B nodes) the evaluation is exactly 0.00 each time, reaching search depth 53.
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 agreed early: from 100 thousand to 128 million nodes the evaluation never left ±13 cp.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 193 gives White +0.46 and setup 113 gives White +0.39: 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 c4, and 3 first moves are within 10 cp of it.
Along the engine's main line (30 moves) the evaluation stayed within ±26 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 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 | +13 | 1. b4 Ng6 2. e4 e5 3. Nh3 O-O 4. O-O Bh4 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 20 | 0 | 1. b4 b5 2. e4 Ng6 3. Nh3 e5 4. O-O O-O |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 22 | -7 | 1. c4 e5 2. b4 d6 3. e3 Ng6 4. f3 O-O |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 27 | +1 | 1. b4 b6 2. e4 Ng6 3. c4 c5 4. b5 e6 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 38 | 0 | 1. c4 e5 2. b4 b6 3. Nf3 d6 4. Ba4 Nfd7 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 41 | -1 | 1. b4 e5 2. c4 b6 3. e3 c5 4. bxc5 bxc5 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 50 | 0 | 1. b4 e5 2. c4 b6 3. e3 c5 4. b5 d6 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 49 | 0 | 1. b4 e5 2. c4 b6 3. e3 c5 4. b5 d6 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 51 | 0 | 1. c4 c5 2. e3 Ng6 3. b3 e5 4. Nge2 b5 |
| S9 | 3 200 000 000 | 53 | 0 | 1. c4 c5 2. e3 Ng6 3. b3 e5 4. Nge2 b5 |
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: -7
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 +128, Black +103, difference +25. 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 | 42 | 1. c4 e5 2. b4 b6 3. Nf3 d6 4. Ba4 Nbd7 5. d4 e4 |
| 2 | 0 | 42 | 1. b4 b6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3 e6 4. h4 h5 5. bxc5 bxc5 |
| 3 | -9 | 41 | 1. e4 e5 2. b4 b5 3. Nf3 Ng6 4. d4 exd4 5. Bxd4 Nc6 |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 26 cp, mean 6.2 cp, final 0 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | b4 | +7 | e5 | -3 |
| 2 | c4 | -12 | d6 | -11 |
| 3 | Ba4 | -5 | Nbd7 | +7 |
| 4 | e4 | +16 | Ne6 | +15 |
| 5 | Nce2 | +26 | b6 | +14 |
| 6 | Nh3 | +10 | c5 | 0 |
| 7 | bxc5 | +3 | bxc5 | +3 |
| 8 | O-O | +4 | Bc6 | +7 |
| 9 | Bxc6 | +6 | Qxc6 | +7 |
| 10 | Nc3 | +11 | Ba5 | 0 |
| 11 | Qb5 | -5 | Qxb5 | -5 |
| 12 | Nxb5 | -8 | Nd4 | -10 |
| 13 | Nxd6 | -11 | Re6 | -10 |
| 14 | Nf5 | -11 | g6 | -23 |
| 15 | Ne3 | -22 | Ra6 | -20 |
| 16 | Bc3 | -15 | Kg7 | -7 |
| 17 | f3 | -14 | Rd8 | -2 |
| 18 | Nf2 | -9 | Nb6 | -7 |
| 19 | h4 | -9 | h5 | -2 |
| 20 | Kh2 | 0 | Nc6 | -9 |
| 21 | Re2 | -7 | Bxc3 | 0 |
| 22 | dxc3 | 0 | Na5 | 0 |
| 23 | Rb1 | 0 | Naxc4 | 0 |
| 24 | Nxc4 | 0 | Nxc4 | 0 |
| 25 | Rb5 | 0 | Ra5 | 0 |
| 26 | Rxa5 | 0 | Nxa5 | 0 |
| 27 | Rb2 | 0 | Nc4 | 0 |
| 28 | Rb7 | 0 | Ne3 | 0 |
| 29 | Nh3 | 0 | Rd2 | 0 |
| 30 | Ng5 | 0 | Rxg2+ | 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 43.7 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. e4 c5 2. h4 h5 3. b4 b6 4. b5 d6 5. c4 e5 6. Nce2 Ne6 7. Nc3 Nd4 8. Nd5 Nd7 9. g3 a6 10. a4 axb5 11. axb5 g6 12. Nh3 Kg7 13. Kg2 Bxd5 14. cxd5 Bf6 15. Bb3 Nxb5 16. Ba4 Nd4 17. Rhf1 Qc7 18. Bxd4 exd4 19. f4 c4 20. Ng5 Re7 21. Bxd7 Rxd7 22. f5 Re8 23. Rf4 c3 24. fxg6 Bxg5 25. hxg5 cxd2 26. Rd1 fxg6 27. Rxd2 Qc3 28. Rdf2 Rb7 29. Rc2 Qe3 30. Rcf2 Ree7 31. Qb4 Rxe4 32. Qxd6 Rxf4 33. Rxf4 Kh7 34. Qf8 Rg7 35. d6 Qd2+ 36. Kg1 Qe3+ 37. Kh2 Qe2+ 38. Rf2 Qe6 39. Qf6 Qe4 40. Qf8 Qe6
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. e4 Ng6 2. c4 c5 3. b4 cxb4 4. Nge2 Qxc4 5. O-O e6 6. Ng3 O-O 7. f4 b5 8. Nh5 f5 9. Nxg7 Bb6+ 10. Kh1 Rc8 11. Nxf5 Rxf5 12. exf5 Qxc1 13. Qxb4 Qxa1 14. fxg6 Nc6 15. gxh7+ Kh8 16. Qxb5 Qg7 17. Bf3 Bb7 18. Qa4 Qd4 19. Qa3 Qc5 20. Qb2+ Qd4 21. Qa3 Qc5 22. Qxc5 Bxc5 23. Be4 Bb4 24. Rb1 Ba6 25. Rfc1 Ba5 26. Rc2 Bb6 27. a4 Rf8 28. g3 Na5 29. h4 Nc4 30. Kh2 e5 31. a5 Nxa5 32. fxe5 Nc4 33. Ra1 Bb5 34. Rac1 d5 35. Bxd5 Nxe5 36. Rc8 Rxc8 37. Rxc8+ Kxh7 38. Be6 Be2 39. Re8 Kg7 40. Bd5 Kf6 41. Re6+ Kf5 42. Re8 Kf6 43. Kg2 Bg4 44. Rf8+ Kg7 45. Rf4 Bc8 46. Re4 Kf6 47. Rb4 Bf5 48. Rf4 Nd3 49. Rc4 Ne5 50. Rf4 Nd3 51. Rf1 Ke5 52. Bc6 Ba5 53. Ra1 Bb6 54. Bf3 a5 55. g4 Bh7 56. Kh2 Bc7 57. Kg2 Kf4 58. Rf1 Bd6 59. Bd1+ Ke5 60. h5 Bb4 61. Kg3 Bxd2 62. Bc2 Kd4 63. Ra1 Be4 64. Kh4 Bc3 65. Rf1 Bd2 66. Ra1 Bc3 67. Rf1 Bd2
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 193 / 113 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): bnqbrnkr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BQNBRKNR w EHeh - 0 1
Mirror twin: White 667 vs Black 843 — a different position (castling squares are fixed), not evaluated by the search.
Current place in the live balance rating: 44.