White 207 vs Black 514
White starts from setup 207 (QNRKNRBB), Black from setup 514 (BRNQKBNR). In the encyclopedia since 2026-10-03: neither side starts better.
|cp| ≤ 5 at 400M · 800M · 1.6B · 4B nodes, two independent engines agree
The two setups
White: setup #207 Q N R K N R B B
King on the d-file, rooks on c, f, 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 207 gives White +0.30 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #514 B R N Q K B N R
King on the e-file, rooks on b, h, queen on the d-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 514 gives White +0.08 (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 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 shallow rungs wandered between -7 and +33 cp before settling — a reminder that quick engine checks overstate imbalances, and why the ladder goes deep.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 207 gives White +0.30 and setup 514 gives White +0.08: 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 g4; the alternatives are slightly weaker but keep the game level.
Along the engine's main line (30 moves) the largest swing was 40 cp (around move 7), 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 | 12 | +33 | 1. g3 e6 2. b3 b6 3. Bxa8 Rxa8 4. f4 Nf6 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 17 | +1 | 1. g3 f5 2. b3 Nf6 3. f3 e6 4. e4 b5 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 21 | +17 | 1. g4 e6 2. f4 Nf6 3. g5 Nh5 4. b3 h6 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 27 | -6 | 1. g4 e6 2. f4 Nf6 3. g5 Nh5 4. Nd3 b6 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 36 | -7 | 1. g4 e6 2. f4 Nf6 3. Bf3 b6 4. Bxa8 Rxa8 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 46 | 0 | 1. g4 e6 2. f4 Nf6 3. g5 Nh5 4. Nd3 h6 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 53 | 0 | 1. g4 e6 2. f4 Nf6 3. g5 Nh5 4. Nd3 b6 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 58 | 0 | 1. g4 e6 2. f4 Nf6 3. g5 Nh5 4. Nd3 b6 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 61 | 0 | 1. g4 e6 2. f4 Nf6 3. g5 Nh5 4. Nd3 b6 |
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 | not checked |
| 8 000 000 000 | not checked |
| 16 000 000 000 | not checked |
This pair held exactly 0.00 up to 1 600 000 000 nodes.
Independent engines, run on the same position:
- Berserk 14: +3
- Lc0 0.32.1: +7
Independent confirmations: 2 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 +40, difference -66. 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 | 43 | 1. g4 e6 2. f4 Nf6 3. g5 Nh5 4. Nd3 h6 5. g6 fxg6 |
| 2 | -26 | 43 | 1. g3 e6 2. b3 Nf6 3. e4 d6 4. e5 dxe5 5. Qxe5 Be7 |
| 3 | -53 | 42 | 1. f4 b6 2. d3 Nf6 3. e4 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. h3 Bg7 |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 40 cp, mean 17.3 cp, final 0 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | g4 | -3 | e6 | -4 |
| 2 | f4 | 0 | Nf6 | 0 |
| 3 | g5 | -1 | Nh5 | -9 |
| 4 | Nd3 | -2 | h6 | 0 |
| 5 | g6 | 0 | fxg6 | 0 |
| 6 | Be4 | 0 | Ne7 | 0 |
| 7 | Ne5 | +40 | b6 | +29 |
| 8 | Bd3 | +30 | Nf5 | +32 |
| 9 | Nxg6 | +36 | Rg8 | +30 |
| 10 | Nc3 | +39 | Qf6 | +32 |
| 11 | Nxf8 | +37 | Rxf8 | +27 |
| 12 | Nb5 | +33 | Qd8 | +26 |
| 13 | O-O-O | +33 | a6 | +29 |
| 14 | Nc3 | +29 | Bg2 | +28 |
| 15 | Rf2 | +35 | Bb7 | +31 |
| 16 | e4 | +28 | Nd4 | +28 |
| 17 | Rdf1 | +28 | Qh4 | +29 |
| 18 | b3 | +28 | O-O-O | +25 |
| 19 | f5 | +23 | Rde8 | +20 |
| 20 | Kb2 | +31 | exf5 | +21 |
| 21 | exf5 | +17 | Kb8 | +12 |
| 22 | Qd1 | +21 | d6 | +16 |
| 23 | a4 | +13 | Rf7 | +15 |
| 24 | Ne2 | +22 | Nxe2 | +15 |
| 25 | Rxe2 | +15 | Rxe2 | +5 |
| 26 | Qxe2 | +11 | Re7 | +6 |
| 27 | Be3 | +4 | a5 | +5 |
| 28 | Qf2 | +1 | Qxf2 | 0 |
| 29 | Bxf2 | 0 | Rf7 | +4 |
| 30 | Bd4 | +2 | Bg2 | 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 55.4 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. g4 e6 2. f4 Qh4 3. Bf3 Qh3 4. Ng2 Nf6 5. Ne3 b5 6. O-O-O Qh4 7. Ng2 Qh3 8. Ne3 Qh4 9. Bxa8 Rxa8 10. h3 Ne4 11. Rf3 Qd8 12. d3 Ned6 13. b3 a5 14. c4 c5 15. a4 bxa4 16. bxa4 Rb8 17. Nc2 Qb6 18. Nd2 f6 19. d4 cxd4 20. Nxd4 Qc7 21. Rc3 Nb6 22. f5 Ndxc4 23. fxe6 dxe6 24. Nxe6 Qe5 25. Nxf8 Nd5 26. Nd7 Qxc3+ 27. Qxc3 Nxc3 28. Nxb8 Nxd1 29. Nxc4 Nc3 30. Kc2 Nxe2 31. Be3 h5 32. Kd3 Ng3 33. Nxa5 hxg4 34. hxg4 Rh3 35. Bb6 Nf5+ 36. Kc4 Rh4 37. Kc5 Rxg4 38. Nc4 Nd4 39. Kb4 Nf5 40. Kc5 Nd4 41. a5 Nb3+ 42. Kb5 Nxa5 43. Nxa5 Kf7 44. Nc4 Rg3 45. Na6 Rb3+ 46. Nb4 g5 47. Bd4 Rb1 48. Nb2 Ke6 49. Na4 f5 50. Nc3 Rb2 51. Na4 Rd2 52. Nc5+ Kf7 53. Nbd3 Kg6 54. Kc4 f4 55. Ne4 Rd1 56. Be5 Kf5 57. Bc7 g4 58. Nd6+ Ke6 59. Ne4 g3 60. Nxf4+ Kf5 61. Nxg3+ Kg4 62. Nd3 Ra1 63. Nc5 Ra8 64. Nge4 Rc8 65. Be5 Re8 66. Bf6 Kf3 67. Kd5 Rf8 68. Bc3 Re8 69. Bb2 Rb8 70. Bc1 Re8 71. Ng5+ Kg4 72. Nge4 Kf3 73. Bb2 Kf4 74. Bf6 Kg4 75. Bg7 Kf4 76. Bc3 Kf3
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. g4 e6 2. f4 Qh4 3. Bf3 Qh3 4. Ng2 Nf6 5. Ne3 b5 6. O-O-O Qh4 7. Ng2 Qh3 8. Ne3 Qh4 9. Bxa8 Rxa8 10. h3 Ne4 11. Rf3 Qd8 12. d3 Ned6 13. b3 a5 14. c4 c5 15. a4 bxa4 16. bxa4 Rb8 17. Nc2 Qb6 18. Nd2 f6 19. d4 cxd4 20. Nxd4 Qc7 21. Rc3 Nb6 22. f5 Ndxc4 23. fxe6 dxe6 24. Nxe6 Qe5 25. Nxf8 Nd5 26. Nd7 Qxc3+ 27. Qxc3 Nxc3 28. Nxb8 Nxd1 29. Nxc4 Nc3 30. Kc2 Nxe2 31. Be3 h5 32. Kd3 Ng3 33. Nxa5 hxg4 34. hxg4 Rh3 35. Bb6 Nf5+ 36. Kc4 Rh4 37. Kc5 Rxg4 38. Nc4 Nd4 39. Kb4 Nf5 40. Kc5 Nd4 41. a5 Nb3+ 42. Kb5 Nxa5 43. Nxa5 Kf7 44. Nc4 Rg3 45. Na6 Rb3+ 46. Nb4 g5 47. Bd4 Rb1 48. Nb2 Ke6 49. Na4 f5 50. Nc3 Rb2 51. Na4 Rd2 52. Nc5+ Kf7 53. Nbd3 Kg6 54. Kc4 f4 55. Ne4 Rd1 56. Be5 Kf5 57. Bc7 g4 58. Nd6+ Ke6 59. Ne4 g3 60. Nxf4+ Kf5 61. Nxg3+ Kg4 62. Nd3 Ra1 63. Nc5 Ra8 64. Nge4 Rc8 65. Be5 Re8 66. Bf6 Kf3 67. Kd5 Rf8 68. Bc3 Re8 69. Bb2 Rb8 70. Bc1 Re8 71. Ng5+ Kg4 72. Nge4 Kf3 73. Bb2 Kf4 74. Bf6 Kg4 75. Bg7 Kf4 76. Bc3 Kf3
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 207 / 514 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): brnqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/QNRKNRBB w CFbh - 0 1
Mirror twin (the same position mirrored): White 656 vs Black 535.
Current place in the live balance rating: 158.