White 389 vs Black 96
White starts from setup 389 (QRBBNNKR), Black from setup 96 (BBQNRNKR). 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 #389 Q R B B N N K R
King on the g-file, rooks on b, h, queen on the a-file; no 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 389 gives White +0.17 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Black: setup #96 B B Q N 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 96 gives White +0.27 (Morozov Balance Index, 400M nodes).
Why the pair is balanced
At the deepest rungs (400M, 800M, 1.6B nodes) the evaluation never left ±4 centipawns of equality, reaching search depth 54.
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 -1 and +16 cp before settling — a reminder that quick engine checks overstate imbalances, and why the ladder goes deep.
For comparison, in symmetric play setup 389 gives White +0.17 and setup 96 gives White +0.27: 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 b4; the alternatives are slightly weaker but keep the game level.
Along the engine's main line (30 moves) the evaluation stayed within ±27 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 | 16 | +7 | 1. h4 h5 2. b4 b6 3. c4 c5 4. bxc5 bxc5 |
| S1 | 500 000 | 22 | +3 | 1. h4 h5 2. c4 c5 3. b4 b6 4. bxc5 bxc5 |
| S2 | 2 000 000 | 25 | +14 | 1. h4 h5 2. b4 d5 3. Bb2 Nde6 4. e3 b6 |
| S3 | 8 000 000 | 30 | +16 | 1. b4 b6 2. h4 c5 3. bxc5 bxc5 4. c4 Nfe6 |
| S4 | 32 000 000 | 38 | +6 | 1. b4 b6 2. c4 c5 3. bxc5 bxc5 4. d3 Nc6 |
| S5 | 128 000 000 | 41 | -1 | 1. b4 b6 2. c4 c5 3. bxc5 bxc5 4. h4 e5 |
| S6 | 400 000 000 | 44 | -4 | 1. b4 b6 2. c4 c5 3. bxc5 bxc5 4. h4 Nc6 |
| S7 | 800 000 000 | 50 | 0 | 1. b4 b6 2. h4 c5 3. bxc5 bxc5 4. c4 Nc6 |
| S8 | 1 600 000 000 | 54 | 0 | 1. b4 b6 2. h4 c5 3. bxc5 bxc5 4. c4 Nc6 |
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: +4
- Lc0 0.32.1: +16
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 +76, Black +146, difference -70. 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. b4 b6 2. c4 c5 3. bxc5 bxc5 4. h4 e5 5. Bb2 Nc6 |
| 2 | -23 | 43 | 1. e3 c5 2. b4 cxb4 3. Ng3 b6 4. Rxb4 e5 5. O-O Ng6 |
| 3 | -27 | 43 | 1. h4 c5 2. h5 h6 3. b4 cxb4 4. a3 e5 5. axb4 b5 |
Main-line play-out
30 moves, 5 000 000 nodes per half-move. Largest |evaluation| 27 cp, mean 3.3 cp, final 0 cp.
| # | White | cp | Black | cp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | b4 | +11 | b6 | +3 |
| 2 | c4 | 0 | c5 | 0 |
| 3 | bxc5 | 0 | bxc5 | 0 |
| 4 | h4 | 0 | e5 | -9 |
| 5 | Ne3 | -19 | Nfe6 | -27 |
| 6 | Nd5 | -25 | O-O | -15 |
| 7 | Bb2 | -10 | f6 | -4 |
| 8 | d3 | -12 | Nf7 | -8 |
| 9 | e3 | -2 | Nc7 | -9 |
| 10 | Bf3 | -12 | f5 | -2 |
| 11 | Rh3 | 0 | Qa6 | +7 |
| 12 | a4 | +15 | Nxd5 | +4 |
| 13 | cxd5 | +4 | Bd6 | +2 |
| 14 | Rd1 | 0 | e4 | 0 |
| 15 | dxe4 | 0 | fxe4 | 0 |
| 16 | Bxg7 | 0 | exf3 | 0 |
| 17 | Nd3 | 0 | c4 | 0 |
| 18 | Nc5 | 0 | Qc8 | 0 |
| 19 | Rd4 | 0 | Ne5 | 0 |
| 20 | Bxf8 | 0 | Bxf8 | 0 |
| 21 | Rg3+ | 0 | Kh8 | 0 |
| 22 | Ne4 | 0 | Qa6 | 0 |
| 23 | Ng5 | 0 | Bg7 | 0 |
| 24 | d6 | 0 | fxg2 | 0 |
| 25 | Qb1 | 0 | Ng6 | 0 |
| 26 | Nf7+ | 0 | Kg8 | 0 |
| 27 | Rxg6 | 0 | hxg6 | 0 |
| 28 | Qxg6 | 0 | Re6 | 0 |
| 29 | Nh6+ | 0 | Kh8 | 0 |
| 30 | Nf7+ | 0 | Kg8 | 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 39.2 moves.
Sample game 1 (1/2-1/2)
1. c4 c5 2. e3 b6 3. h4 e5 4. h5 h6 5. b4 cxb4 6. a3 Qxc4 7. axb4 Nh7 8. Ng3 O-O 9. b5 Ne6 10. Ba3 Nc5 11. Nf3 Rc8 12. d4 exd4 13. exd4 Ne4 14. Bxf8 Nxg3 15. fxg3 Nxf8 16. Ne5 Bxe5 17. dxe5 Be4 18. Rb3 Qd5 19. Re3 Qc5 20. Qa3 Qxe5 21. O-O Nh7 22. Bg4 Nf6 23. Bf5 Re8 24. Bxe4 Nxe4 25. Qa2 Re6 26. Qc4 d5 27. Qc8+ Kh7 28. Rxf7 Qd4 29. Qxe6 Qxe3+ 30. Kh2 Qxg3+ 31. Kg1 Qe3+ 32. Kh2 Qg3+ 33. Kg1 Qe3+ 34. Kh2
Sample game 2 (1/2-1/2)
1. c4 c5 2. b3 h5 3. h4 b6 4. Bb2 e5 5. Ng3 g6 6. d3 f5 7. e4 f4 8. Ne2 Nf7 9. Nf3 Kh7 10. b4 Ne6 11. bxc5 bxc5 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. Bxe5 Bxe5 14. Qxe5 Rhf8 15. Qd6 f3 16. gxf3 Rxf3 17. Ba4 Rd8 18. Rh2 Bc6 19. Bxc6 Qxc6 20. Qxc6 dxc6 21. Rb7+ Kh6 22. Re7 Nf4 23. Nxf4 Rxf4 24. Rh3 Rdf8 25. Rg3 Rxf2 26. Re6 Rf1+ 27. Kh2 R8f2+ 28. Rg2 Rf6 29. Rxf6 Rxf6 30. Rg5 Rf3 31. Rxc5 Rxd3 32. e5 Rd2+ 33. Kg3 Rd3+ 34. Kg2 Rd4 35. Kh3 Rd3+ 36. Kg2 Rd4 37. Kh3 Re4 38. Kg3 Rg4+ 39. Kh3 Re4 40. Kg3 Rg4+
Play it in the CH960 app
Open this page on a phone with the CH960 app installed, or find pair 389 / 96 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): bbqnrnkr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/QRBBNNKR w BHeh - 0 1
Mirror twin (the same position mirrored): White 762 vs Black 863.