White 229 vs Black 162
White starts from setup 229 (NRBBQKNR), Black from setup 162 (BNRNKBQR). 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 #229 N R B B Q K N R
King on the f-file, rooks on b, h, queen on the e-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 229 gives White +0.17 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #162 B N R N K B Q R
King on the e-file, rooks on c, h, queen on the g-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 162 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 57.
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 -18 and +17 cp before settling — a reminder that quick engine checks overstate imbalances, and why the ladder goes deep.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 229 gives White +0.17 and setup 162 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 e4, and 3 first moves are within 10 cp of it.
Along the engine's main line (20 moves) the evaluation stayed within ±18 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 | +17 | 1. Nb3 c5 2. d3 f6 3. e4 c4 4. Nd2 cxd3 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 20 | -2 | 1. e4 f5 2. Nb3 g6 3. exf5 gxf5 4. d4 b6 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 24 | -9 | 1. e4 f5 2. Nb3 b6 3. exf5 Qd5 4. Nf3 Nf7 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 26 | -18 | 1. b4 b6 2. c4 f5 3. Bb3 e5 4. Nc2 c5 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 35 | +1 | 1. e4 b6 2. d4 g6 3. Nb3 f5 4. exf5 gxf5 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 44 | 0 | 1. e4 b6 2. d4 g6 3. Nb3 f5 4. exf5 gxf5 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 47 | 0 | 1. e4 b6 2. d4 g6 3. c3 f5 4. Bb3 e6 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 54 | 0 | 1. e4 b6 2. b4 f5 3. exf5 Qxa2 4. Bb2 Nbc6 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 57 | 0 | 1. e4 f5 2. Nb3 b6 3. exf5 Qd5 4. Nf3 Nbc6 |
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: 0
- Lc0 0.32.1: +10
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 +43, Black 0, difference +43. 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 | +5 | 42 | 1. e4 b6 2. d4 g6 3. Bf3 f5 4. b3 fxe4 5. Bxe4 Bxe4 |
| 2 | -1 | 42 | 1. c3 |
| 3 | -1 | 42 | 1. b4 f5 2. Nb3 b6 3. Bb2 e5 4. Bxe5 Bxb4 5. e3 Qf7 |
Main-line play-out
20 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 18 cp, mean 2.0 cp, final 0 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | b4 | -12 | b6 | -18 |
| 2 | e4 | -1 | g6 | -11 |
| 3 | Nb3 | +12 | f5 | 0 |
| 4 | f3 | +12 | e5 | +6 |
| 5 | d3 | -3 | Ne6 | -7 |
| 6 | Ne2 | 0 | fxe4 | 0 |
| 7 | dxe4 | 0 | d5 | 0 |
| 8 | exd5 | 0 | Bxd5 | 0 |
| 9 | O-O | 0 | O-O-O | 0 |
| 10 | f4 | 0 | h5 | 0 |
| 11 | fxe5 | 0 | Nc6 | 0 |
| 12 | b5 | 0 | Nxe5 | 0 |
| 13 | Nc3 | 0 | Bxb3 | 0 |
| 14 | axb3 | 0 | Bg7 | 0 |
| 15 | Kh1 | 0 | Qe8 | 0 |
| 16 | Qe4 | 0 | Nc5 | 0 |
| 17 | Qa8+ | 0 | Kd7 | 0 |
| 18 | Qd5+ | 0 | Kc8 | 0 |
| 19 | Qa8+ | 0 | Kd7 | 0 |
| 20 | Qd5+ | 0 | Kc8 | 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 48.5 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. e4 b6 2. d3 f5 3. exf5 Qxa2 4. Bh5+ g6 5. fxg6 hxg6 6. Bxg6+ Nf7 7. Bf4 Bxg2+ 8. Kxg2 Rg8 9. Nb3 Rxg6+ 10. Bg3 Nd6 11. Qd1 Qa4 12. Qh5 Qg4 13. Qxg4 Rxg4 14. c3 Nc6 15. Nf3 O-O-O 16. Nbd4 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Bh6 18. Rbe1 Rg7 19. Re5 Rf8 20. Rh5 Rf6 21. Re1 Kb7 22. Kf1 Bf4 23. Bh4 Rff7 24. Nf3 Nf5 25. Bg5 Bd6 26. Ke2 Rf8 27. Bc1 a5 28. Rh1 e6 29. h4 c5 30. Rg5 Rh7 31. Rg4 Rfh8 32. Bg5 b5 33. b3 Ka6 34. d4 cxd4 35. Nxd4 Be5 36. Kd3 Rc8 37. Be3 Nxe3 38. fxe3 Bf6 39. c4 bxc4+ 40. bxc4 Rh5 41. Rf4 Be5 42. Rg4 Bf6 43. Rf4 Bh8 44. Rf7 Rd8 45. Rb1 Bxd4 46. Kxd4
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. e4 g6 2. b4 f5 3. exf5 gxf5 4. Bh5+ Nf7 5. Rb3 Bg7 6. Rg3 Qf8 7. d4 O-O-O 8. Ne2 b6 9. c4 Bb7 10. O-O e5 11. c5 f4 12. Ra3 Ng5 13. Qd1 Nc6 14. b5 Nb4 15. Nc2 bxc5 16. Nxb4 cxb4 17. Rxa7 Qd6 18. h4 Ne6 19. Qa4 Qb6 20. Bf3 d5 21. dxe5 Bxe5 22. Ra8+ Kd7 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. Qc2 Qd6 25. Bg4 f3 26. Nf4 Bxf4 27. Bxe6+ Qxe6 28. Bxf4 fxg2 29. Rd1 Rc8 30. Qxh7+ Qe7 31. Qf5+ Qe6 32. Qh7+ Qe7 33. Qc2 Qe6
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 229 / 162 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): bnrnkbqr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NRBBQKNR w BHch - 0 1
Mirror twin (the same position mirrored): White 634 vs Black 791.
Current place in the live balance rating: 163.