White 314 vs Black 740
White starts from setup 314 (NQRKBBRN), Black from setup 740 (RBBKNNQR). 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 #314 N Q R K B B R N
King on the d-file, rooks on c, g, queen on the b-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 314 gives White +0.46 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #740 R B B K N N Q R
King on the d-file, rooks on a, h, queen on the g-file; no 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 740 gives White +0.26 (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 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 0 and +21 cp before settling — a reminder that quick engine checks overstate imbalances, and why the ladder goes deep.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 314 gives White +0.46 and setup 740 gives White +0.26: 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 c4; the alternatives are slightly weaker but keep the game level.
Along the engine's main line (30 moves) the largest swing was 32 cp (around move 12), ending at +1 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 | 14 | +11 | 1. c4 c6 2. g3 g5 3. f3 Bc7 4. d4 d5 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 19 | +3 | 1. c4 c6 2. g3 Bc7 3. f4 h5 4. Bg2 h4 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 24 | +7 | 1. c4 c6 2. g3 Bc7 3. f4 h5 4. Nb3 g5 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 28 | +21 | 1. c4 c6 2. g3 h5 3. f3 Qh7 4. Qxh7 Nxh7 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 34 | +14 | 1. c4 c6 2. g3 e5 3. d4 exd4 4. Bg2 g5 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 44 | 0 | 1. c4 c6 2. g3 e5 3. d4 exd4 4. f4 Ne6 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 52 | 0 | 1. c4 c6 2. g3 e5 3. d4 exd4 4. f4 Ne6 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 54 | 0 | 1. c4 c6 2. g3 e5 3. d4 exd4 4. f4 Ne6 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 58 | 0 | 1. c4 c6 2. g3 e5 3. d4 exd4 4. f4 Ne6 |
| S9 | 3 200 000 000 | 61 | 0 | 1. c4 c6 2. g3 e5 3. d4 exd4 4. f4 Ne6 |
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: -2
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 +11, difference -37. 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 | +8 | 41 | 1. c4 c6 2. g3 e5 3. d4 exd4 4. Nb3 Ne6 5. Qd3 Bc7 |
| 2 | -14 | 40 | 1. d4 c6 2. g3 f5 3. c4 Qf7 4. f4 d5 5. cxd5 cxd5 |
| 3 | -18 | 40 | 1. g3 f5 2. c4 Qf7 3. d4 a5 4. Bg2 Ng6 5. f4 d6 |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 32 cp, mean 8.8 cp, final +1 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | c4 | +21 | g5 | -2 |
| 2 | g3 | +12 | Qg6 | +7 |
| 3 | Nc2 | +11 | c6 | +3 |
| 4 | f3 | +9 | d5 | 0 |
| 5 | cxd5 | +16 | cxd5 | +22 |
| 6 | Nf2 | +23 | Nf6 | +13 |
| 7 | d4 | +25 | Bc7 | +17 |
| 8 | b3 | +18 | Be6 | +25 |
| 9 | Qb2 | +24 | N8d7 | +29 |
| 10 | Nb4 | +21 | h5 | +22 |
| 11 | Nbd3 | +17 | Rc8 | +13 |
| 12 | Bb4 | +18 | Bf5 | +32 |
| 13 | Qd2 | +18 | g4 | +15 |
| 14 | Bg2 | +10 | Bxd3 | +5 |
| 15 | Nxd3 | +14 | h4 | +10 |
| 16 | Nf4 | +10 | Bxf4 | +8 |
| 17 | Qxf4 | +11 | Rxc1+ | +2 |
| 18 | Kxc1 | 0 | hxg3 | 0 |
| 19 | hxg3 | 0 | gxf3 | +7 |
| 20 | exf3 | 0 | Ne8 | 0 |
| 21 | Re1 | 0 | e6 | +6 |
| 22 | Kb2 | +10 | Rh2 | 0 |
| 23 | Re2 | 0 | Qf6 | 0 |
| 24 | Ba5+ | 0 | Ke7 | 0 |
| 25 | Bb4+ | 0 | Kd8 | 0 |
| 26 | Bd2 | 0 | Qxf4 | 0 |
| 27 | Bxf4 | 0 | Nf8 | 0 |
| 28 | g4 | 0 | Rh7 | 0 |
| 29 | Bf1 | 0 | Rh1 | 0 |
| 30 | Bg2 | 0 | Rh7 | +1 |
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 39.4 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. c4 h5 2. f4 g5 3. f5 c6 4. g3 Qh7 5. Bg2 e6 6. fxe6 Qxb1 7. Rxb1 dxe6 8. d4 e5 9. Bc3 exd4 10. Bxd4 Rg8 11. O-O Bc7 12. b4 Ne6 13. Nc2 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Be5 15. Rfd1 Kc7 16. Nf2 Nd6 17. b5 Bxd4 18. Rxd4 c5 19. Rdd1 Nxc4 20. Ne4 Ne3 21. Rdc1 c4 22. Kf2 Nxg2 23. Rxc4+ Kb6 24. a4 Be6 25. Rc5 Rac8 26. Re5 Rc2 27. a5+ Kc7 28. Rd1 h4 29. Nf6 Rh8 30. Kxg2 Ra2 31. a6 bxa6 32. bxa6 Rd8 33. Re1 hxg3 34. Kxg3 Ra3+ 35. Kf2 g4 36. Rc1+ Kb6 37. Rb1+ Kc6 38. Rc1+ Kd6 39. Rg5 Ra4 40. Ke3 Rxa6
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. c4 b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. g3 h5 4. f3 c6 5. e4 d5 6. Qc2 dxc4 7. O-O-O Bc7 8. Bxc4 O-O-O 9. Nf2 Nd6 10. Bf1 f6 11. Nb3 e5 12. dxe5 fxe5 13. Bc3 Ng6 14. f4 c5 15. f5 Ne7 16. Bxe5 Kb8 17. Bf4 Qf7 18. a3 Rhe8 19. Be2 Bc6 20. Nd2 Nexf5 21. Nf3 Qa2 22. exf5 Qa1+ 23. Kd2 Qa2 24. Kc1 Qa1+ 25. Kd2 Qa2
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 314 / 740 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): rbbknnqr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NQRKBBRN w CGah - 0 1
Mirror twin (the same position mirrored): White 357 vs Black 414.
Current place in the live balance rating: 203.