White 269 vs Black 914
White starts from setup 269 (NRKBNQBR), Black from setup 914 (BRKRQBNN). 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 #269 N R K B N Q B R
King on the c-file, rooks on b, h, queen on the f-file; no bishop starts in a corner; the knights start away from the centre. The king already stands on a castled square, so one of the castlings moves only the rook. In ordinary symmetric play setup 269 gives White 0.00 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #914 B R K R Q B N N
King on the c-file, rooks on b, d, queen on the e-file; one bishop starts in a corner; the knights start away from the centre. The king already stands on a castled square, so one of the castlings moves only the rook. In ordinary symmetric play setup 914 gives White +0.41 (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 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 shallow rungs wandered between -21 and -2 cp before settling — a reminder that quick engine checks overstate imbalances, and why the ladder goes deep.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 269 gives White 0.00 and setup 914 gives White +0.41: 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 c3, and 2 first moves are within 10 cp of it.
Along the engine's main line (30 moves) the largest swing was 39 cp (around move 8), ending at 0 cp — the position stays playable for both sides.
Engine self-play agrees: 10 games, White won 0, drawn 8, Black won 2 (White scored 40.0%).
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 | -21 | 1. c3 b6 2. b4 e5 3. f3 d5 4. Bc2 Ng6 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 18 | -3 | 1. c3 b6 2. Bc2 e5 3. Bxh7 Nf6 4. Bd3 d5 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 25 | -17 | 1. c3 b6 2. Bc2 Ng6 3. f3 e5 4. O-O-O Nf6 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 29 | -11 | 1. c3 b6 2. Bc2 Ng6 3. f3 Nf6 4. O-O-O e5 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 35 | -6 | 1. c3 b6 2. Bc2 Nf6 3. f3 Ng6 4. O-O-O e5 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 40 | -2 | 1. c3 b6 2. e3 f5 3. Be2 Nf6 4. h3 e5 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 48 | 0 | 1. c3 f5 2. h3 b6 3. e3 e5 4. Be2 Nf6 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 52 | 0 | 1. c3 f5 2. h3 b6 3. e3 e5 4. f3 d5 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 53 | 0 | 1. c3 f5 2. h3 b6 3. e3 e5 4. f3 d5 |
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: +1
- Lc0 0.32.1: -8
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 +35, Black +46, difference -11. 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, 8 draws, 2 Black wins, White scored 40.0%.
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. c3 f5 2. h3 Nf7 3. f3 b6 4. e3 e5 5. Be2 Qe6 |
| 2 | -6 | 40 | 1. f3 b6 2. c3 f5 3. e3 e5 4. h3 Nf6 5. Bh2 Qe6 |
| 3 | -11 | 40 | 1. e3 e5 2. c3 f5 3. f3 b6 4. h3 Nf6 5. Bh2 Qe6 |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 39 cp, mean 10.7 cp, final 0 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | c3 | -24 | b6 | -17 |
| 2 | Bc2 | -12 | Ng6 | 0 |
| 3 | f3 | -22 | Nf6 | -35 |
| 4 | O-O-O | -31 | e5 | -23 |
| 5 | Kb1 | -21 | a5 | -23 |
| 6 | Bf2 | -33 | h5 | -24 |
| 7 | h3 | -35 | d5 | -31 |
| 8 | g4 | -34 | Bc6 | -39 |
| 9 | d4 | -31 | exd4 | -33 |
| 10 | Bxd4 | -24 | Kb7 | -14 |
| 11 | Bxf6 | -9 | gxf6 | -14 |
| 12 | Nb3 | -11 | Ne5 | -15 |
| 13 | Ng2 | -14 | Nc4 | -12 |
| 14 | e4 | -16 | Bb5 | -7 |
| 15 | Bd3 | +1 | dxe4 | -8 |
| 16 | Bxe4+ | -7 | Ka7 | -8 |
| 17 | Qf2 | -6 | hxg4 | -5 |
| 18 | hxg4 | -1 | Rxd1+ | 0 |
| 19 | Rxd1 | 0 | a4 | 0 |
| 20 | Nd4 | 0 | a3 | 0 |
| 21 | b3 | 0 | Nd6 | 0 |
| 22 | Bd3 | 0 | f5 | 0 |
| 23 | Ne3 | 0 | Bxd3+ | 0 |
| 24 | Rxd3 | 0 | fxg4 | 0 |
| 25 | fxg4 | 0 | Qe4 | 0 |
| 26 | Kc2 | 0 | Bh6 | 0 |
| 27 | Nc4 | 0 | Qh1 | 0 |
| 28 | Rd1 | 0 | Qe4+ | 0 |
| 29 | Rd3 | 0 | Qh1 | 0 |
| 30 | Rd1 | 0 | Qe4+ | 0 |
Engine self-play
10 games at 500 000 nodes per move: White won 0, drawn 8, Black won 2 — White scored 40.0%. Average length 51.0 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. f3 b6 2. g4 Nf6 3. e4 e5 4. c4 Ng6 5. Bc2 h5 6. g5 Nh7 7. h4 Be7 8. d4 Nxh4 9. O-O-O Bxg5+ 10. Kb1 exd4 11. Bxd4 f5 12. exf5 Qf7 13. Qh3 Rf8 14. Nb3 Nxf5 15. Qxh5 Bh6 16. Qxf7 Rxf7 17. Bxg7 Bxg7 18. Rxh7 Nd6 19. Nd4 O-O-O 20. Nb5 Nxb5 21. cxb5 Rh8 22. Rxh8+ Bxh8 23. Bg6 Rg7 24. Bh5 Kd8 25. Nc2 Rh7 26. Bg4 d6 27. Nb4 Rh2 28. b3 Bc3 29. Nd5 Be5 30. Nb4 Bc3 31. Nd5 Bxd5 32. Rxd5 Rb2+ 33. Kc1 Rxa2 34. Rh5 Ke7 35. Rh7+ Kf6 36. Rxc7 Be5 37. Rc8 Ke7 38. Rc7+ Kf6 39. Rc8 Kg5 40. Rc2 Ra1+
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. c3 b6 2. Bc2 Ng6 3. f4 e6 4. e4 Nf6 5. d3 e5 6. fxe5 Qxe5 7. O-O-O d5 8. exd5 Qxd5 9. Kb1 Be7 10. Nb3 O-O 11. Nd2 a5 12. Bd4 b5 13. Ne4 Ng4 14. h3 N4e5 15. Qf5 a4 16. h4 c5 17. Bxc5 Bxc5 18. Nxc5 Qxc5 19. d4 Qc8 20. Qxc8 Rbxc8 21. dxe5 Nxe5 22. Rd4 Rfe8 23. Rb4 a3 24. bxa3 Nc4 25. Bd3 Nxa3+ 26. Kc1 Red8 27. Kb2 Nc4+ 28. Bxc4 bxc4 29. Nf3 Bxf3 30. gxf3 Rd2+ 31. Kb1 Rf2 32. a4 Rxf3 33. Kb2 f5 34. Rg1 f4 35. a5 Rf2+ 36. Ka3 Ra8 37. Rb5 f3 38. h5 h6 39. Ra1 Re2 40. Rf1 Rf8 41. a6 Rf6 42. a7 Ra6+ 43. Kb4 Rxa7 44. Rxf3 Rc7 45. Rc5 Rxc5 46. Kxc5 Re4 47. Rf1 Rg4 48. Kd5 Rh4
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 269 / 914 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): brkrqbnn/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NRKBNQBR w BHbd - 0 1
Mirror twin (the same position mirrored): White 600 vs Black 39.